


To Calmer Waters

by YumeNoTsuzuki (Yumejin)



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, F/M, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-06
Updated: 2015-03-12
Packaged: 2018-03-16 15:07:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 78,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3492908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yumejin/pseuds/YumeNoTsuzuki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Naruto is an energetic, troublemaking, no-name orphan with little shinobi skill to show - that much everybody knows. That he has the determination, willingness to work and a strength of spirit vast enough to make him a Kage too- knows only one, a silently caring friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Basically I was quite annoyed that although Naruto the manga initially set out to show that even a dead last orphan can conquer fate, in the end it all boiled down to him having badass parents, a badass godfather that felt obliged to train him and hell of a lot of an advantage in the form of the Kyuubi as well being a reincarnation of something or other and prophesied/fated to do something or other. Also I kinda hated that the Five Kage's accomplishments are totally discounted because a kid who trained for three years manages to accomplish what took them their whole shinobi careers. So here is my fix-it:
> 
> The-Fourth-dies-but-kills-the-Fox AU, Naruto and Shino friendship and eventually more fic.
> 
> In this universe, the Academy teaches ages 8-14, but only the last four years are shinobi training. The first two are used to get students acquainted with essential subjects such as writing, math as well as accommodating outdoor classes which are later transformed into taijutsu training. I increased the ages both to make myself a bit more comfortable with slowly introducing the romance later on and also so that Team 7’s development would be more believable. My logic here is: they’re at peace and don’t need to start training ninja quite as young. The shinobi council has seen what happens to children like Itachi and Kakashi who were put through training as young as 5 or 6 and would rather let the new generation take the time to grow as humans before they grow stronger as shinobi.

The faculty room was quiet, most of the lights were out but one Umino Iruka was still hard at work, head propped up with one hand tiredly.

 _Whatever shall I do with you…? Uzumaki Naruto_ , he thought to himself, looking over the long list of students in his class. The kid was a bit of a troublemaker, but for an orphan with no friends that was painfully understandable, Iruka knew from experience. But the real problem was that his scores from tests were only barely passable and still the kid didn’t want to pay attention in class. The orange clad boy seemed too scatter-brained to sit through a lecture, but the teacher knew that was not the case. He simply couldn’t follow the subjects he was talking about, having fallen behind in the first year of the Academy. Iruka didn’t want to see any of his students fail, so he’d been trying to figure out how to help the young boy. Lecturing him had not worked and neither had detentions. Another teacher had suggested a more subtle approach, which had given him this idea: rearranging the class seating layout. He had allowed the kids to choose their own seats so far, but clearly that wasn’t working, and not just for Naruto, the girls who hounded Uchiha Sasuke each day were too prone to distraction when seated near him as well.

The problem was, where to put Naruto, who was the cause of many disruptions in his classes. Sitting next to any of the Uchiha fangirls would be potentially disastrous knowing their dislike of the boy, but sitting him next to some of the more active boys in class was also asking for trouble. Ideally, he’d need to sit with someone who could influence him positively while not allowing themselves to be distracted by his attention-seeking.

 _Aburame Shino,_ said the last name on his list. He’d hesitated for a few moments, knowing the quiet clan heir would likely not be too happy with this arrangement, but then thought that maybe, with a bit of luck, Naruto could coax him out of his ‘shell’ and encourage him to interact with others more, while calming the blond down a little in return.

Marking his final decision down, Iruka closed his notebook and left.

*

“Why do I have to sit next to him?!” was, as expected, the first thing Naruto exclaimed at their teacher as soon as the man entered the classroom the next morning. The new seating plan was innocuously hanging on the door behind him.

“This class needs to focus and study a lot more seriously now, there is only a year and a half until your graduation. You all have a long way to go before you can become full-fledged shinobi and I have arranged where you will be sitting to minimise distractions and also to encourage everyone to interact with their other classmates more. As shinobi, you will be put on different teams than your friends a lot of the time and you have to learn to work with everyone, even those you might not like. This is non-negotiable,” Iruka said sternly, trying to hold on to his conviction. He wasn’t the strictest of teachers, he treasured his students too much to ever intimidate them, but he knew sometimes you had to follow through with your decisions.

“Fine... I get it, dattebayo,” Naruto sulked, sinking into his seat dejectedly.

“Is there a reason why you would rather not sit next to me, Uzumaki-san?” Shino questioned calmly, turning to face him. The blond swallowed thickly.

“Nah, that’s not what I meant…just, I’d rather sit next to Sakura-chan, you know?”

Somewhere in the distance, the pink haired girl was exclaiming praises to an uninterested Uchiha Sasuke.

“I see.” Shino turned back to his notes and did not say anything else. The silence kind of unnerved Naruto, who could barely sit quietly for five minutes and always tried his best to speak to people whenever possible. The truth was, he was lonely and wanted friends, but no one in class paid him any attention unless he was actively doing something funny. The pale, dark haired boy however didn’t look like the most approachable type though, in fact he seemed to be outright ignoring Naruto.

The lesson was as always, dead boring to the young Uzumaki. He had no idea what Iruka had been talking about yesterday or the day before that and today it was no different. Something about elemental affinities, it was all terribly uninteresting to him. That was, until Iruka announced that they were to work on a mock exam type of questions for the next hour, _in pairs._

“It might seem too complicated to you just now, but in pairs you should be able to come up with at least some of the answers,” he explained, before setting an alarm on his desk to ring in an hour’s time. “It’s good practice, so get started!”

“What a drag,” Naruto heard Shikamaru mutter nearby and he wholeheartedly agreed.

The questions on the sheet of paper in front of him might as well have been written in another language, because he sure as hell didn’t know what they were asking.

“Uzumaki-san, do you know the second half of this question? I have answered the first to the best of my ability,” Shino murmured, stoic as ever.

“Why would I know, I’m the dead-last, remember,” Naruto huffed, folding his arms across his chest. He was starting to fidget, eager to go outside and pull a prank or practice throwing kunai or something. Anything was better than sitting in a stuffy, hot classroom and taking a useless test.

Shino sighed, pushing the paper further towards his unwilling partner.

“It’s a simulation of a combat situation. What would you do if your squad was outnumbered and fighting over a prolonged period of time?” he asked, staring at the blonde from behind his dark glasses.

“Set some traps and hide, I guess?” Naruto shrugged.

“Correct. The use of guerrilla warfare tactics and stealth would be most important in such a situation.”

“Guer-what?”

“The use of use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, hit-and-run tactics, and mobility to fight a larger group of opponents. I believe we discussed this topic in class several weeks ago,” Shino’s stare seemed to intensify despite the lack of emotion showing on his face.

“I.. probably wasn’t paying attention,” Naruto’s ears burned with embarrassment and he wanted nothing more than to jump out of the window right now.

“I had assumed as much. It appears your poor test scores reflect only your lack of an academic approach to the shinobi lifestyle, rather than a complete lack of knowledge. Let’s move on to the next question, Uzumaki-san,” the young Aburame prompted. They continued like this for the rest of the test, Shino explaining the questions carefully and Naruto piecing together the answers from his practical knowledge.

At the end of the lesson, Iruka returned their test, marked with 60%, the highest score Naruto had ever gotten so far. He stared at the piece of paper, dumbstruck.

“We haven’t even covered many of these questions in class, well done you two,” Iruka congratulated them with a smile.

“It was mostly Shino though, dattebayo,” Naruto frowned. Next to him, Shino cleared his throat softly.

“I merely used a more suitable wording to explain Uzumaki-san’s answers,” he said more quietly than before.

Naruto was puzzled by this behaviour. Shino had helped him get a good score on a test, when he probably could have gotten an even higher mark by himself. No one ever helped him like this, it was strangely humbling to experience. The dark haired boy now appeared more shy than unfriendly and Naruto just couldn’t figure out his strange behaviour. He’d always thought Shino was a weirdo but this wasn’t at all what he had expected.

*

After returning home, Naruto was thinking over the day’s events. The common room was mostly empty, only a few other kids were playing or studying in the corners. Naruto walked past them and up the stairs to his room. The building was old and falling apart, even the door to his room had cracks in it, but it was home. He and several other kids from the orphanage had been moved here when they started at the Academy. The Jonin-sensei responsible for running the ‘orphan hall’ as they called it among themselves, said it was the legendary Slug Sannin, Tsunade’s idea, to separate shinobi children from civilians at a young age, providing them with the guidance they would need, similar to how clans prepared their children for the ninja world. Located in the Shinobi District, the hall housed several dozen children between the ages of 5 to 15, most of them orphans of the Kyuubi attack 14 years ago, just like him. Naruto was looking forward to the day he could go on his first C-rank mission and be able to move out to his own apartment, but that was probably a while away. As a no-name orphan, he was still much better off than those who had been rejected from the academy. He was well fed and had a roof over his head until it would be certain he could support himself. That wasn’t to say the shinobi orphans were coddled, no, they were required to do their own dishes and washing, as well as keep the place generally clean. There was also a strict regime of morning training, and while it wasn’t particularly strenuous, it ensured they all kept in shape. There was a small library in the building too, filled with books on basic shinobi techniques and training. For Naruto though, it just meant a lot of time to get up to no good as you wouldn’t catch him dead with a book.

In the room next to his, regular thumping noises could be heard and Naruto surmised that Tenten, his only ‘friend’ of sorts, was probably practising with her weapons again. Honestly, they weren’t all that close, but she was also his only friend, so he wasn’t complaining.

Lying down on the bed, Naruto looked over the test which he had brought back from the Academy. 60%... that was probably near what Sasuke-teme would have got. He still couldn’t quite believe he had answered all these questions, but it felt good to know he had helped a bit.

“Naruto!” Tenten’s voice came from behind his door and he let her in quickly.

“Yo,” he grinned at her, showing her the test.

“Did you cheat?” Tenten quipped with a frown on her face, making his grin vanish instantly.

“No, dattebayo. We worked in pairs and Shino wrote most of it.”

“I see... well, I’m not surprised then, a clan heir would be expected to do well in any test. And you probably didn’t know anything. I keep telling you that you need to study, your graduation is only a year and a half away. You can’t make up for four years of no studying without putting in any effort,” she reprimanded him, frown still in place.

“Heheh... yeah I know,” Naruto fidgeted, but knew he probably wouldn’t remember her advice in two days’ time.

“Actually, I came here to tell you something, Naruto… I’m going on my first C-rank mission tomorrow, so I will probably be gone for a few days. And after that...”

“You’re moving out?” Naruto’s face fell and he crumpled up the test in his hand. The girl nodded, but he noticed she didn’t look all that sad. True, they were friends but since she had become a genin, he’d been seeing her less and less and she spent all her time training, instead of helping with Naruto’s pranks like she used to.

“You’ll be a genin in a bit over a year and you’ll be moving out in no time, too. Sure, I will miss everyone... but I need more space and… I just, this place always reminds me that my parents died in the Kyuubi attack and I’m an orphan. I want to make it on my own, and put all that behind me.”

“I get it, Tenten. Just, didn’t think it’d be so soon. I’ll be on my own again,” he sat down on the bed, smiling sadly. He didn’t want to look at her, because then she’d see how much it hurt him to slowly lose his only friend.

“You’ll have a genin team soon enough.  You can’t not become good friends after a few missions together, you’ll see,” she tried to cheer him up a bit, ruffling his hair.

“Stop it, I’m not a kid anymore,” he whined, but let her continue and against himself, grinned a little.

“Are too. But I will miss you anyway.” She gave him one last hug before leaving to pack for her mission. He had a feeling he wouldn’t be seeing her again for a long time.  

*

Without Tenten around to help occupy his afternoons, the days seemed to stretch slowly and forever to Naruto. The odd pattern of Shino helping him with classwork continued and he still didn’t know what the weird boy was trying to achieve. That was, until the quiet Aburame finally confronted him about his lethargy and stubborn attitude.

“Are you not satisfied with my assistance, Uzumaki-san?” his voice was polite and monotone as ever but Naruto was sure he’d heard a note of annoyance in there. He was surprised the stoic Aburame didn’t revert to ignoring him as usual.

“Why are you even helping me? I don’t get it,” Naruto grimaced, looking at the pop quiz in front of him, marked with 54% percent. It annoyed him, somehow, because it didn’t feel like he had earned the grade at all.

Shino’s left eyebrow twitched.

“We are often partnered for assignments. It is also possible we may in the future be on the same genin team. It is beneficial to me to raise your test scores to ensure my own grades do not drop and also so that I will have a capable team mate in the future. Why, because my life may depend on you one day,” he explained in that dull, monotone voice as always, but somehow it stuck a chord with Naruto. Shino was helping himself really, but it was more than anyone else had done for him in a long time, and at least he was honest about it. Plus, if it really was up to him to save Shino’s life one day… maybe someone of this knowledge could be useful in the end.

“I have noticed you have been in a rather unsociable mood lately, Uzumaki-san. You may speak to me about what troubles you if you wish.”

Naruto outright stared, not believing what he was hearing. After thinking about it, he didn’t know why, but he felt like Shino would understand him, somehow.

“You know I live in the shinobi orphan halls, right?”

Shino nodded, showing no judgement of his situation.

“My best friend is moving out soon. She’s away on a mission now… I just feel like our friendship will never be the same, you know? It’s been three days and I don’t even feel like pranking anyone,” he sighed, folding his arms on his desk and hiding his face in them.

The other boy stayed quiet for a few moments, not that he was ever quick to speak his mind.

“My best friend and cousin, Torune... was recently absorbed into a specialised unit of shinobi. I do not think I will be able to see him ever again,” he finally said, and Naruto’s head shot back up in surprise.

“That’s… horrible!” he choked out, not able to imagine what losing a family member in such a way would be like.

“Indeed. I miss him greatly,” Shino turned away, signalling that the conversation was over.  But Naruto wasn’t ready to let it go quite yet.

“You Aburame aren’t as heartless as you look, dattebayo,” he chuckled a bit. Shino’s eyebrow twitched again.

“Please do not speak of my clan without any knowledge about them that is not ill rumours,” he said, as if glaring at the blond.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that… I’m saying that a lot lately, dattebayo. I just mean, I didn’t think you’d ever say something like that.” Naruto didn’t know quite how to explain himself to the other boy. He didn’t want to push the stoic Aburame away now that they had a tentative working relationship.

“We pride ourselves on being highly logical. But we are human and we have emotions like anyone else. We simply do not let them cloud our judgement,” Shino explained, adjusting his sunglasses slightly. Naruto couldn’t quite understand what that would be like, but he did feel bad about insulting Shino’s clan, even by accident.

“Hey Shino, want to go for ramen with me later?” he asked with a grin, determined to make it up to the dark haired boy. If the Aburame was surprised by his sudden offer, he did not show it.

“… That would be acceptable, Uzumaki-san.”

That means, _“I’d like that,”_ in Aburame-speech, Naruto noted to himself with amusement.

*

Iruka was most pleased with this development. Over the last few weeks, Naruto had quieted down a bit already and his grades had improved significantly. They were all on group assignments, but seeing the usually quiet Aburame and the noisy Naruto work together seamlessly was both surprising and satisfying to see. And it was all because of his genius plan. Iruka would have patted himself on the back if he could have. Though perhaps it was a bit early to celebrate. Naruto hadn’t shown any more attentiveness in class, he just didn’t make as much noise. His blue eyes were usually glazed over in half-sleep, but in Iruka’s book that was still an improvement from shouting about being Hokage in the middle of a lecture.

*

“And then, he kicked the log so hard it broke. Didn’t know anyone below Genin could do that!” Naruto was chatting away happily to Shino, who was calmly listening to the story of how the blond had met Rock Lee, the self-proclaimed Genius of Hard Work. If he found Naruto’s story annoying or boring, he didn’t show it, simply eating his ramen slowly and carefully.

The conversation died down eventually, as Naruto proceeded to inhale a frankly obscene amount of ramen and Shino was just finishing his first bowl.

“Uzumaki-san,” Shino turned to him, putting his chopsticks down.

“Just call me Naruto, dattebayo,” the blond chirped, wiping broth off his face with a sleeve. Shino tried very hard not to wince.

“I must confess that I had first approached you in hopes of understanding something about you, Uzumaki-san,” he said slowly, measuring his words. Naruto frowned deeply.

“There’s nothing special about me, though?” he ordered another bowl of ramen quickly.

“You say that you wish to be Hokage, but do nothing to improve your grades. It seems most illogical to me and I wished to understand what drove you to behave as you did in class,” the Aburame continued and a tense silence fell over the ramen stand. Old Teuchi half expected Naruto to punch the other boy.

“What do you mean? I’ll be Hokage and that’s a promise, dattebayo!” Naruto said, not knowing how to explain it himself. “I never go back on my word!”

“To be Hokage, one must excel in all areas of shinobi arts. Meanwhile, you neglect your studies and train only the bare minimum. How do you intend to achieve this goal?” Shino seemed genuinely curious, despite his cool demeanor, while a hot anger rose inside of Naruto. Not at the Aburame boy, no. At himself. He couldn’t answer the question because he did not know how.

“I don’t know! I haven’t even graduated yet! It’s not like it matters. A clanless dobe like me could never make it anyway so no one believes me. Why do you care?” he barked out, neglecting his steaming hot ramen to glare at Shino.

“You say you will be Hokage with utter conviction, yet you cast doubt on your own words. It is most illogical. I had initially thought this behaviour strange so I tested you while we took the written exam. Despite your attitude, you have more knowledge than you show or believe you do yourself.”

“What are you getting at?” Naruto did not like going around in circles in a conversation which was clearly against him.

“I am “ _getting at_ ” the point that you are sabotaging your own dream. I simply wish to discover why,” Shino did not flinch away from Naruto’s confrontational gaze and his voice remained as monotone as ever, but he was not yet as much a master of his emotions as his elder clansmen and there was a small tensing of his shoulders. He was not used to verbal confrontation and feared angering the blond.

“I don’t know. It’s like, no one thinks I can do it! I’m just some kid with bad grades and no name...” the young Uzumaki admitted dejectedly, clenching his fists. Tenten, while supportive of his ninja career, had not gone out of her way to help him with his dream and there was no one else in his life he had ever talked to about it.

“Being an orphan, being from a clan… it holds little bearing on the success of a ninja’s career. The Yondaime was an orphan, as was the Toad Sannin Jiraya. Meanwhile there are ninja like Hyuuga Hinata, from a prodigious clan, who are unable to tap into their potential. You mustn’t give up, Naruto. Why? Because the key to success is in your own hands.”

“You really think I can do it?” Naruto deadpanned, gaping at the boy.

“I believe that as you are now, you are not fit to be a ninja at all,” Shino said, perhaps a little harshly, but maybe the blond had imagined that. “However, if you apply yourself, there is no reason why you could not become a good shinobi or even a kage. All famous ninja started out as we are, but none of them got strong without putting in the work. It is simply… logical.”

Inside, Naruto was in turmoil. But he knew what Shino said made sense. More than Tenten’s reprimands over the years, this really made him realise that he hadn’t been taking his own dream seriously, which was also probably why no one else could believe in it. How could he be a good Hokage if he couldn’t even answer Academy-level questions on a test?

“You’re a good guy, Shino,” he grinned at the Aburame heir.

“I merely sought to satisfy my own curiosity. Helping you will also benefit me in the long run,” the boy stated, but Naruto couldn’t quite believe it anymore. Intending to, or not, Shino had helped him and become his friend and he wasn’t about to let his friend down.

“Old man Teuchi, I’ll pay for all this,” he announced, shaking out all of the jingling contents of his plush frog wallet onto the counter.

“You’re leaving already? You only had 13 bowls,” the cook joked, eagerly taking the hefty sum off Naruto’s hands.

“Yeah, can’t sit around when I’ve got three years of classes to catch up on, dattebayo,” the blond grinned widely, jumping out of his seat.

It wasn’t until he got to his room that he realised…

“I have no idea where to start,” he lamented, realising the obvious lack of notes or books from the previous years in his room.


	2. Keep Your Friends Close

The next day, Shino was pleasantly ‘surprised’, not that he would show it, to find Naruto in class early. He seemed eager but at the same time more calm than usual.

“Good morning, Uzumaki-san,” Shino intoned, sitting down beside him.

“Told you to call me Naruto already,” the blond frowned, turning to face him.

“That would be rude, as we are not that well acquainted. One must always show respect to their peers and superiors. Why? Because to earn the respect of others, you must be respectful of them first,” the Aburame explained.

“That... makes sense actually. Shino-san?”

The dark haired boy nodded approvingly. “Have you begun revising the material from previous years yet?” he questioned after a moment, curious as to the effects of his confrontation with Naruto the previous day.

“Well…” the blonde squirmed, going slightly red in the face. “I kinda burned all my old books a while back… I don’t really know where to start now,” he admitted, eyes cast down.

 “You may borrow mine later. However I suggest you begin by asking Umino-sensei about the areas of study you should focus on first,” Shino offered, looking to their teacher who was just beginning to set up his notes for the upcoming class.

“Got it, dattebayo,” the blond stood up and strode over to Iruka with determination etched into every fibre of his being.

“How can I help you, Naruto?” the teacher asked, looking up from his desk.

“Ano.. Iruka-sensei, I’ve got a favour to ask,” Naruto was feeling unreasonably nervous. Somewhere in the back of his mind he realised it was because admitting his shortcomings was a very painful first step to take. “I need to catch up on studying. I don’t understand what you talk about in class most of the time,” he admitted, feeling dizzy. “But I don’t know where to start, I don’t have my old books any more either…”

“Well,” Iruka smiled proudly at the boy. “You can remedy that by going to the library. I can write down a short list of things you should definitely revise if you’d like. Other than that, your taijutsu is passable, for the time being, and your genjutsu is non-existent. I think for this you might need more hands-on help, so leave it for now. Just get your other studies up to standard first, then we can figure out where to go next, okay?”

“Sounds good, dattebayo,” Naruto nodded eagerly, embarrassment almost forgotten.

“I think the most important thing for you just now is to figure out the techniques we’ve been learning while you’d been skipping class to play pranks,” Iruka shook his head. “Which, by the way, you should really cut down on if you want to be a serious shinobi.”

“Aw… but they’re like... training, sensei! I have to be stealthy and then run away from Jounins or even ANBU you know!” Naruto pouted, disappointed.

“Well… in that case, just make sure they don’t take up the time you should be spending on studying and training, okay?” Iruka was willing to concede this much.

The boy cheered up instantly. “It’s a promise, dattebayo!” he made to turn around and leave.

“Naruto... I wasn’t done yet,” Iruka sighed. “The techniques you need are the Henge, the Kawarimi and the Bunshin. These will almost definitely come up on the final exam, so make sure you learn them.”

“Okay, Iruka-sensei! I’ll be the best at the exam, you just wait!” the boy grinned and ran off to relay his findings to Shino. Meanwhile, Iruka smiled to himself. Naruto was finally taking his studies seriously, something he hadn’t managed to achieve in nearly three years, a new friend managed in under a week.

“Hmm... Out of these techniques I only know the Kawarimi. Got any tips, Shino-san?” Naruto questioned the stoic brunette, receiving a tentative nod in return. The Aburame pushed his notes over to him and he read aloud.

“The Henge requires you to output a small and steady amount of chakra to change your appearance into that of another person or creature. The key is memorising the appearance of what you want to change into. Additional notes... ah, the illusion will dispel upon damage or the disruption of the caster’s concentration,” he frowned a bit. “So… it’s pretty much useless in a fight? Wait... you could probably use it as a distraction, or if you’re trying to hide.”

“Correct,” Shino observed Naruto’s deduction with concealed amusement. “However, I believe the true reason it is taught in the academy is not because of its combat applications, but because of the control the technique requires. It’s the basis to all chakra control exercises which are taught to new Genin after graduation.”

“Chak..ra control?” Naruto frowned, trying to remember where he’d heard that before. “..Nope, it’s gone...can’t remember anything, dattebayo,” he groaned, bashing his head on the desk to Shino’s internal horror.

“Chakra is the combined power of mental and physical energy… your experience, emotions and thoughts as well as training, stimulants and exercise. The greater one’s control over their chakra, the more efficiently they can expend it on techniques and last longer in a fight,” he recited for Naruto, seeing a flicker of recognition on the blonde’s face. He had clearly heard all this before, just had not bothered to memorise it then.

“Thanks Shino,” he grinned, putting his hands together into the required seals, Dog → Boar → Ram and focusing on maintaining his chakra. It was difficult, he could feel it all trying to burst forth at once. _Something happened_ … and a moment later, a rather deformed and chubby version of the Aburame was looking hopelessly up and down his own body.

“… It can take some practice,” Shino assured, although his eyebrow moved in an annoyed twitch once more.

“Maybe I should practice at home, hahah,” Naruto released the transformation and tried to pretend like that had not just happened.

“Before you leave later, I would like you to come by my clan’s home, as I said you may borrow my old books to revise from.”

“Eh? But won’t you need them?” the blond seemed genuinely concerned, but Shino shook his head.

“I will not be needing them for a while. Why? Because I have revised them regularly and know the subjects well enough to pass the exam now. I will however require them next year before the exam period begins.”

“Ah, okay. I’ll try to get my own copies if I need to so I don’t keep them too long. Thanks, Shino-san,” Naruto gave a little grateful bow to his friend, actually somewhat eager to begin studying now that he had a clearer goal to work towards.

*

The Aburame clan household was... less impressive than Naruto had imagined. Everything was decorated in gentle, earthen tones and there was no extravagance in the design of the buildings nor in their furnishing. Still, the expanse of greenery surrounding it was very well maintained and Naruto could feel the love of the clan for the nature, the wildlife and the flora of their garden saturate even the air around them. Shino led him into one of the side lodgings, before instructing him to leave his shoes at in the hall and to follow him quietly inside.

“You don’t live in the main house?” Naruto questioned curiously, looking around every corner.

“We don’t think ourselves above the branch family members, so the main house is used only for family gatherings and storing important documents.”

The blond nodded in understanding. Finally they arrived in Shino’s room.

“Please wait here, Uzumaki-san.” The Aburame disappeared into the darkness behind the door but emerged soon with a few books. “These are from the first and second year of the Academy. I can help you with the recent topics and the homework during recess,” Shino offered. “If you’d like.” he seemed to retreat into himself a bit again. Naruto didn’t know whether the boy was shy or what anymore, but he appreciated the gesture immensely nonetheless.

“I’ll take you up on that, but I’ll try to do most of it myself. I can ask Iruka-sensei for help, too.” He thought for a second about how much he owed to his newest friend already. “I don’t want to bother you with every little thing, dattebayo. I can do this, believe it!” he grinned, while placing the books securely into his school bag.

And then, all of a sudden, a bug landed on his nose.

“Uwaaah! What the hell!” he exclaimed, eyes bulging out in surprise.

“What’s going on?” a female voice rang out from somewhere within the house and a slender, tall woman emerged from another room. She had long auburn hair tied loosely at the end and was also wearing a pair of small sunglasses to cover her eyes even though they were indoors, just like Shino’s. She wore a grey turtleneck and otherwise standard shinobi gear.

“Mizuho-nee-sama,” Shino greeted her respectfully, but she just smiled at him.

“You’ve brought a friend home? That’s new,” she mused, staring Naruto down from behind her glasses. Her voice was steady and controlled, but surprisingly melodious, when compared to Shino’s monotone speech.

“H-hello, I’m Uzumaki Naruto,” the blond tried to introduce himself politely, just holding back the urge to announce he was the future hokage to her.

“Aburame Mizuho. Nice to meet you, Naruto-kun,” she gave him a courteous nod.

“We were just leaving, I apologise about the noise, Nee-sama. I am lending Naruto a few books to revise from,” Shino explained. If Naruto didn’t know better, he’d say Shino looked embarrassed. Although the feeling of being embarrassed by your family was quite unknown to him so he couldn’t really tell.

“Hmm, alright then. Let me just get this little guy for you,” she said and reached out for Naruto’s face, before gently scooping the bug off his face. He’d almost forgotten it was there.

“Um… Aburame-san.. if you’re an Aburame, why do you have red hair and show your face?” Naruto blurted out in a fit of curiosity. Beside him, Shino shook his head and sighed. Mizuho, however laughed. It wasn’t loud, just soft and full, somehow fitting just right with the gentle atmosphere of the house.

“It’s okay, Shino. Naruto-kun, I’m a Aburame in name only, I married into the clan recently.” She explained patiently. “I’m his cousin, Shouhei’s wife. Now, Naruto-kun, can you do something important for me?”

Naruto looked up at her questioningly.

“Be a good friend to Shino, okay? An Aburame is the best friend you could wish for, so don’t waste that over something petty,” she looked between him and Shino, who seemed to understand what she was talking about better than Naruto.

“Of course, dattebayo! He’s my best friend after all!” the blond didn’t hesitate, despite his confusion.

“That’s good,” she nodded approvingly. “Now please leave, I’ve got work to do and need peace and quiet.” She shoo’d them out of the house, seeming quietly amused by something.

*

They spent the rest of the day in a small clearing of the Aburame ‘garden’ if you could call it that. It was practically a thin forest, but the clearing provided a pleasant place to sit in the evening sun and study. Naruto was eager to do some jutsu training, but Shino had been surprisingly stubborn about just studying from books instead.

“You need to re-learn the basics, Uzumaki-san. Why? Because it will aid you in learning the techniques you wish to attempt,” he said patiently, flicking through the pages of a book about some sort of insects.

Naruto grumbled, but followed his friend’s advice. But he couldn’t quite sit still and read for hours on end like Shino so instead he read while doing squats slowly to expand some of his energy. Truthfully, he hated reading and found the theory utterly boring, but after persevering through several quizzes at the Academy with Shino, he had a better grasp of the vocabulary used than before and everything was slowly beginning to make sense. He hadn’t known that imagining his body covered in a sheen of energy could help mould chakra for the Henge correctly, so in the end, the time spent studying wasn’t completely wasted.

Several hours later, when he’d finally had enough of jutsu theory, he decided to leave his friend before overstaying his welcome.

“Thanks a lot, Shino. I might even not fail this year’s exams at this rate, heh,” he announced happily, at which the Aburame shook his head.

“I expect you will do better than not-failing, Uzumaki-san. After all, you would not want to waste the effort I had spent on helping you, correct? That would be rude.”

“Why do I suddenly have a feeling you’re secretly a manipulative bastard?” Naruto narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing the impassive face of his friend.

Shino did not deny that, instead choosing that particular moment to be fascinated by a bug that had landed on a nearby tree.

*

Over the months leading up to their third year exams, Naruto’s studies had picked up speed. After mastering the Henge, the only technique he had yet to master was the Bunshin, which was so far proving more difficult than either of the other two. Between ninjutsu training and catching up on reading from the last two years as well as keeping on schedule with current homework during recesses with Shino, he didn’t have much time for pranks or visiting Ichiraku ramen. It turned out that Mizuho made amazing lunch boxes and had been willing to provide them for Naruto as well under the condition that he’d repay the favour at some point, so he could only go to have Ichiraku’s ramen for dinner and that was only on days when he wasn’t training in the afternoon.

His grades had begun rising slowly and while it wasn’t an amazing improvement, it was satisfying to Naruto. He had now beaten the last five people in the class and could consistently pass every test by a margin of a few percent. He suspected his success was mostly thanks to the new understanding of exam-type questions which allowed him to use his own insight to answer even the slightly more difficult problem solving questions, rather than his ‘new book smarts’. He still lacked a lot of knowledge on history and culture, but these were at least to him, less important than ninjutsu theory which took up most of his study time. So overall, his scores hadn’t so much as dramatically improved but rather stabilised at a barely acceptable level (according to Mizuho-nee).

The only things that were decidedly not going well, were his tentative friendship with Shino and the lack of any progress with the Bunshin, he was having too much trouble with splitting his chakra for some reason. Shino had made a comment about his chakra being too unstable, but that did not help at all. Much like the Aburame’s seemingly helpful attitude, just concealing his apprehension which didn’t help him concentrate in the slightest. To what, Naruto could not guess. At first he had thought maybe he’d done something to upset his friend, but as far back as he could think in their acquaintance, he could not think of any reason why Shino may be trying to put some distance between them. He had asked Mizuho-nee-san about it, but she just gave him a small, secretive smile and told him to let Shino figure it out himself.

Currently, he was trying the bunshin technique without much success while waiting on recess to finish, while next to him Shino was looking over his notes on recently discovered insect species and for all intents and purposes, ignoring Naruto.

 “Look at that, Dead Last is trying the Clone Jutsu! Hah, as if he could actually pull it off,” Kiba decided to ‘join them’, which really meant he barrelled in without having been invited, goading Naruto with a challenging gaze. The blond clenched his fists, but tried to keep calm.

“If you haven’t noticed, _Inuzuka_ , I haven’t been Dead Last for over three months now. I beat you and Shikamaru in the last test, too,” he ground out in frustration, abandoning his attempt to mold chakra correctly.

“Yeah, right!” Kiba barked out a laugh.

“He is right, actually,” Shikamaru drawled from behind them, having been seemingly asleep up untill now. “Troublesome as it is...”

“What? For real?” Kiba was now panicking, but had no way to check for sure. That was when a stampede of fangirls had followed Uchiha Sasuke into the class. The teen looked severely constipated from being in their presence and quickly went to sit down and attempt to ignore them.

“What’s going on, Kiba, Shikamaru?” Ino questioned, nosy as she always was. “Naruto’s studying?” her voice was genuinely awed.

“Bet he’s just pretending, he’ll never be as smart as Sasuke-kun!” Sakura chimed in, oblivious to how much this hurt Naruto.

“Ne, Sakura-chan, you don’t think I can actually learn something every now and again?” he asked his pink-haired crush, feeling like all his hard work had just been spat all over.

“Hmph, you could study a hundred years and never catch up to us! Sasuke-kun and I are the top two students in the class you know!” she chirped happily with a gloating smile directed at Ino, then turned away and seemed to forget all about him.

“Alright, class, pipe down!” Mizuki-sensei ordered, appearing in the doorway. Whatever nasty remark Kiba was cooking up in the wake of Sakura’s verbal assault of Naruto, was cut short.

Shino looked at his friend in silent concern. Naruto knew that look and it just made him angrier.

“I’ve got to learn the stupid Bunshin _now,”_ he muttered darkly, resisting the urge to punch a hole through the table.

*

They were sitting in the training ground of the orphan halls, knowing Naruto could vent and practice there without disturbing the Aburame’s peace and quiet. And vent he did, unleashing a hail of kunai upon the training dummies, although many of them missed the mark, just making him angrier again.

“Why can’t I do it? Is my chakra defective or something, dattebayo!” he threw himself down on the ground beside Shino, who was stoically sitting in a lotus position and reading a book.

“You should calm down, Uzumaki-san. Your anger will only make it more difficult to control your chakra. Also… you are scaring all the insects away,” he observed somewhat dully, but it actually helped Naruto ease up a bit.

“What is it with you and bugs, man? …Sorry, Shino. It’s just... I’ve tried, everything and it’s just not working!” he covered his eyes with the sleeve of his tracksuit in frustration.

The young Aburame seemed to contemplate something deeply with a rare frown on his face, before putting his book down. Naruto looked up at him from the ground, observing the way the afternoon sun reflected in the other boy’s glasses, concealing what he was thinking.

“I may have a theory concerning your chakra, Uzumaki-san,” he spoke after a few long minutes, slowly and carefully.

“Huh? Then why didn’t you say so sooner!” Naruto pouted, sitting up at once.

“Mould as much chakra as you can, for a few minutes, please,” Shino instructed him and the blond instantly obeyed, clasping his hands together in a Ram seal and focusing on the balance of energy within his body. “This is not working. Now cycle through each hand seal for a few minutes each.”

“What for?” Naruto questioned, but did as instructed, moving through the Monkey, Dragon, Rat and the other hand seals one at a time, not seeing the point in this.

When he entwined his hands in the seal of the Snake, however, Shino told him to stop.

“Continue moulding chakra as you are now,” he told Naruto, who eventually proceeded to sink into a state of utter focus, feeling the ebb and flow of his chakra gradually beginning to calm down.

“You may stop,” Shino’s nearly gentle voice broke his concentration than. “Now try to make a clone.”

Naruto formed the necessary seals and watched in amazement as a clone appeared next to him, feeble as it looked. It remained in place though, which was a vast improvement from his previous attempts.

“What did you do?” he asked Shino in awe, watching his illusionary doppelganger do a little wave at the two of them.

“I did not do anything but sense your chakra. You have a lot of chakra, but until you actively moulded it did I realise how much. It is easily as much as my father has if not more, and he is a Jonin. This is likely why you have trouble taming it for low-cost techniques. Additionally, you have a strong affinity for the element of water – I suspect that is another reason why your chakra could not stabilise when you moulded it using the Ram seal.”

“I don’t get it,” Naruto frowned, not remembering anything about choosing specific hand seals in the books on chakra theory he’d read. “And how did you sense my chakra? You never said you were a sensor…” he was rightfully confused, not having met a sensor ninja before, although he vaguely recalled Iruka-sensei mentioning them in class some years ago.

“My clan cycles through the hand seals which are affiliated with elemental chakra to find out their abilities. The standard method does not work for us, as our Kikaichu bugs like to eat chakra paper. I had sensed your unstable chakra and theorised it could be caused by the mismatch of the hand seal and your affinity. Choosing specific hand seals is also a Jonin-level skill, required for jutsu creation and fuuinjutsu, as far as I am aware. My clan has several techniques unique to only one Kikaichu user and as such we try to discover such abilities early on in a child’s life. What I know of it is only what my cousin Shouhei told me while he was creating his own jutsu and it is not much. However it appears my theory was correct, as you have a high affinity for Water and the Snake seal is most suited for Suiton techniques.”

“I…see. I guess Water is pretty cool. But you keep saying Kikaichu, what is it, dattebayo?” the blond asked, still more confused. Happy as he was about discovering his elemental affinity so early in his shinobi career, he sensed that Shino had more to say and that his friend was… nervous? There was that feeling again, shy and uncertain, that Naruto couldn’t quite grasp.

Shino rolled up the sleeves of his jacket and then of his shirt, revealing his drastically pale arms with several small, black punctures in them.

Naruto stared, unconsciously leaning closer to inspect them.

“I had initially thought you’d known about this before we had even spoken, considering that my clan is renowned for their ‘unusual’ jutsu throughout the Elemental Nations. However after you visited our home, it became apparent that was not the case. I apologise if this makes you uncomfortable.”

Shino lifted his arms and a small trickle of bugs emerged from the punctures on his arm, buzzing gently. Naruto could do nothing but stare.

“I had no idea…” he managed to finally say, swallowing thickly. “Does it... hurt?”

“No. I have had this colony since I was an infant, I do not remember the integration process, but now... no, they do not hurt me,” Shino explained, before lowering his arms finally and covering his arms, uncomfortable under such scrutiny. Any moment now, Naruto’s face would twist in disgust, he was certain. This was why none of the kids in the Academy had wanted to be close friends with him, the presence of insects bothered them.

“Is that why you tried to distance yourself from me for a while? Did you think I’d break off our friendship over something like this?” Naruto’s eyes narrowed and he glared at the young Aburame accusingly.

“There was no evidence to the cont-,”

“You’re my best friend Shino. And I don’t break my promises. Remember what I told Mizuho-nee-san?” Naruto punched the other boy’s arm playfully. “Besides, insects are useful. Not like spiders. Those, I don’t like at all.”

Shino actually laughed a little, if the rustle of the collar of his coat was any indication. “Me neither,” he then said in all seriousness.

“So what do those Kikaichu do?” Naruto questioned a moment later, curiosity going through the roof. They were insects serving a ninja clan, surely they had to have some trick or two up their proverbial sleeves.

“For one, they feed on chakra – they can sense it. That is how I measured and observed your chakra flow. I had placed a few bugs on you earlier,” Shino explained, now allowing a few of his bugs to roam over the surface of his raised hand, just in view. Naruto, despite his lack of enthusiasm for insects in general, was fascinated. These tiny creatures lived under Shino’s skin, swarming there and constantly consuming his chakra, without hurting him at all.

“On this topic, I believe you should seek out a Jonin level shinobi to introduce you to higher level chakra control exercises. That should guarantee you the ability to create a stable Bunshin. Why? Because tamed chakra will be easier to mould and maintain.”

“I don’t know any Jonin though… Iruka-sensei and Mizuki-sensei are only Chuunin,” Naruto frowned, finally breaking ‘eye contact’ with the tiny Kikaichu on Shino’s hand.

The Aburame gave him a silent, intense look and the blond screwed up his face even more intently in concentration.

“Ah. Mizuho-nee-san is a Jonin, dattebayo! I totally knew that!” he pouted, turning away to sulk.

“Indeed. However, she is not available this week because she is away on a mission along with my cousin and my father.”

“.. Damn. Isn’t there anyone else? I mean, it’s not exactly like there’s not enough of them running about the village.”

“While that is true, most would probably not help someone who is not officially a shinobi.”

“Good point. But I can’t wait until I become a Genin with this, dattebayo...”

“If you are willing to concentrate on other training for another week or two, I can ask Mizuho-nee-sama to set time aside to help you,” Shino offered, picking his book back up, clearly assuming the conversation was drawing to a close again. Naruto wasn’t ready to let it go though.

“I’ll be damned if I have to get laughed at by _Inuzuka,_ of all people, again,” he cracked his knuckles, determined to find some way to learn the stupid jutsu. “I’ll hit up the library first, it’s worth a shot.”

He left, but found himself back there within half an hour.

“The librarian is mean. Told me to get out cos’ I’m not even Genin yet and can’t be allowed to look at any techniques above Academy level so I don’t blow myself up or something,” he rolled his eyes. Shino did not look surprised at this.


	3. Taming the Tide

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How Naruto appears in this story/my OCs -> [[Here]](http://chocolate-otokonoko.tumblr.com/post/115298848928/just-some-art-for-my-fanfic-since-the-other-post-i)

Much to Naruto’s frustration, the answer to his problems did not present itself, or rather, himself for the next three days. Having spent very little time at home due to his training and spending time with Shino, Naruto had simply _forgotten_ about a certain person who could help him.

“I’m such an idiot, dattebayo,” he groaned, bashing his head against the notebook he’d been revising from. The common room was lively for how late it was and Naruto didn’t immediately notice it when the person he was hoping to see had even entered the room.

“Ne, ne, Gorou-san, can you help me out a bit?” he asked hopefully, big blue eyes wide and looking up at the person who could be the saviour of his ninja career.

The man, probably in his early thirties, turned to face him. Small, crescent-like scars littered the side of his face and head, where part of his hair was shaved off. He had a look of a battle-hardened warrior, which only gave credence to the rumours about him being ex-ANBU that had been circulating for years between the orphans he sometimes looked after.

“What is it, squirt?” Gorou questioned, stopping his inspection of his student’s kunai for a moment. “Did you stub your toe or something?”

Well, no one said he was _nice._

“Uh.. no, dattebayo. Basically, I have tons of chakra and can’t do a Bunshin for the Academy properly. Someone told me to ask a Jounin for a chakra control exercise. Can you help? Please, Gorou-san?” Naruto employed every ounce of politeness that Shino’s continued reprimands managed to teach him.

“And what’s in it for me?” the man narrowed his eyes at him, before returning to his inspection of the blunted tools.

Naruto fumbled with his hands, embarrassed to be found to just demand a Jounin’s time with nothing to give them in return.

“Alright, kid I guess I can make you a deal. Deliver these to the address on the note in the box then come find me. If you can do that, I’ll tell you what you want to know. Now get lost.”

Naruto flinched at the rejecting tone but nevertheless looked to the stack of crates full of ninja gear and clothes that Gorou-san had been sorting out. There were three and each one was big and packed to the brim. Still, he didn’t have the physical conditioning of being an aspiring ninja for nothing so he set about his work quickly, eager to get back to training and learn the stupid Bunshin jutsu alredy. Unfortunately, his enthusiasm was short-lived, because halfway to the shop he’d been told to take the boxes to, his arms began to feel like lead and he had to take a break. And that was only on the first one. It was already late by the time he was done and then... Gorou-san had wandered off somewhere. Clearly he had just shifted a bothersome task off onto the blonde to make him go away… but he _had_ made a promise and Naruto wasn’t ready to let his effort go to waste.

Finally, after four more hours of getting bounced around from the halls’ supervising adults to the Jounin Lounge, where apparently no-one knew where the man actually lived, to the Hokage Tower’s administration, where he was finally given the address, then finally navigating an area of dense forest to an isolated complex somewhat near where he knew the ANBU headquarters to be. When he finally arrived, he was completely beat but still determined to make the sneaky bastard make good on his word.

“Hmm. Not half bad, I guess. Though not half as good as I expected from the kid the Aburame are interested in, from what I’ve heard,” the man deadpanned, not looking fazed by how Naruto stormed right through his front door with an angry, frustrated glare and threateningly tightened firsts.

“What?” Naruto frowned. “Anyway I’ve done what you wanted, dattebayo. You better show me a chakra exercise, old man.”

Gorou snorted. “With that attitude, you can forget it, squirt.”

“But you promised,-“

“So what? I’m a ninja, we lie, steal, kill and fight underhanded. I don’t have to keep a half assed promise to some kid I don’t know. You want me to teach you something? Then fucking ask nicely or you can get out of my house,” the ex-ANBU growled, pointing towards the door.

“Right… Gorou…sensei. Could you please teach me chakra control?” Naruto bit out, not at all placated. The man nodded, sitting down on the couch and seemingly ignoring him.

“You passed my test, if just barely... I’ll show you what I know,” Gorou then tossed a small ball at him. The blonde was puzzled now, if still angry.

“What test?”

“Unlike what you seem to think, I’m not in the habit of handing out Jonin level knowledge to kids who are so weak it’s better for them to fail the Academy than go out in the field just to die within a week. I made sure you had the ability to follow instructions and stamina to continue physically and mentally straining tasks. Gathering information was just a bonus because I wanted to throw you off track. Now that I know you’re at least worthy of being a Genin, I’m more inclined to help you, squirt. You’ll see I didn’t test your strength or existing knowledge – those are things you can work around by working on a team. This is why Genin are put in four man cells. But if you lack the drive to complete your mission, you might as well not bother trying,” Gorou explained, serious now. Naruto had a feeling the man had definitely been in ANBU, now. His voice was commanding and authoritative.

“Right…”

“Now, seeing as you’ve got, frankly, a shitload of chakra and no ability to control it, we’ll have to start from the top of chakra intensive exercises and work our way down. Jonin-level chakra control involves manipulating miniscule amounts with precision, so that’s impossible for you right now. And I’m not about to let you blow up yourself up cause you tried to channel chakra to your ears and gave yourself brain damage. Difficult as that would be, considering how stupid you are already,” Gorou snorted again.

“Hey!” Naruto fumed, but the man silenced him by pointing at the ball in his hand, which unknown to him had taken on a blue glow in his hand.

“You’re emitting a lot of chakra even when not actively focusing on it. Kami, no wonder you can’t make a Bunshin.” The ex-anbu seemed amused now, if anything. “That’s a failed chakra storage seal,” he pointed to the white pattern Naruto hadn’t noticed on the little ball until now. There were strange symbols written all over it, but he couldn’t understand any of it. “I don’t really know anything about Fuuinjutsu, but my old girlfriend dabbled in it a bit. Basically, it was supposed to store chakra and release it when needed, like the Strength of a Hundred seal the Sannin Tsunade Senju uses. Look it up later,” Gorou sighed, noticing the incomprehension on Naruto’s face.

“It was supposed to?” the blonde asked curiously, ignoring the last comment, though he did have the literature on the Sannin set aside and on his to-read list, which Shino and Mizuho had forced him to follow religiously. He still hated reading and doubted that would ever change.

“The seal is botched and the power dissipates after a few minutes instead of being contained. But luckily for us, it still has a function we can use. It glows according to how much chakra you are channeling to it. What we now know thanks to that, is that you waste enough energy for five Bunshin while just sitting around. When you’re not even moulding chakra.”

“So... what can we do about that, Gorou-sensei?” Naruto had to admit, he was a little impressed with his new teacher now. Not that he had learned anything of use yet. Then, to his horror, Gorou grinned. It was creepy.

“Now, I’m going to sit here and work on my report for the next hour or so. Every now and again, I will use a water jutsu to hose you down and _you_ will be using chakra to coat your body and keep yourself dry,” he explained and Naruto gulped. He had never seen a water technique, but he hoped the ex-ANBU was not a complete sadist and wouldn’t unleash something like the famed Water Dragon Bullet on an Academy student.

For a moment, he considered asking to learn the water jutsu later, since it was his affinity, but then he imagined the man wouldn’t give something like that way for free.

Then a small, but concentrated blast of water hit him in the face. It was comparable to a slightly more high powered water gun he’d seen civilian kids use when playing, but it was still unpleasant and cold enough to make him want to avoid it as much as possible.

“Well, get to it,” Gorou admonished before pulling the coffee table towards himself and proceeding to seemingly ignore Naruto again.

“What do I do?” Naruto asked, but received no reply. Right… coat the whole body with chakra? That was what the man had said, so that’s exactly what he would try. He focused, trying to mould chakra the same way he would for the Henge and trying to maintain it. He couldn’t really feel the drain of the technique so he figured it wouldn’t be too difficult to hold for a while. Except, Gorou was still ignoring him, the threat of cold water forgotten for now. After a good twenty minutes, Naruto could feel the strain and was beginning to sweat. His concentration wavered and just then, another blast of water hit him on the face. Ugh.

“You’re using too much chakra. You don’t need to try and block a tidal wave, idiot,” Gorou drawled, not even lifting his head from above his report. Naruto was determined to get the technique down, but then another stream of water hit his arm.

“Also, you’re not coated evenly.”

“I’ll do it, just you watch me, dattebayo!” Naruto scowled and set about moulding more chakra.

They continued in a similar manner for nearly another hour and a half. For having seemingly done nothing but stand in place, the blonde was totally beat, while Gorou gave no indication of being affected by the kid’s presence, steadily writing in concentration. Finally, when Naruto was about to pass out from chakra exhaustion, the man walked up to the blonde to haul him back up to his feet.

“You’ve nearly got it. I think. It’s not all that easy to tell without being a natural sensor… anyway, practice this for a couple of days and don’t come back to badger me till you’re done. As your homework, find out possible uses of this technique.”

“It’s not just an exercise?” Naruto was confused.

“Would I teach you something useless and waste both of our time?”

“Hey… sensei, thanks a lot,” the blonde grinned at the impassive man. He’d had enough experience with Shino to not be deterred by someone’s unsociable attitude alone. Gorou had agreed to help and had done far more than the Academy teachers so of course Naruto was grateful.

“Just… get lost. And don’t overdo it tomorrow or you’ll land yourself in hospital with chakra exhaustion,” Gorou looked entirely uncomfortable with the display of sincere enthusiasm and gratitude.

“Ano.. how can I practice though, I won’t have anyone who knows a water jutsu to help?”

“I’m sure you can figure something out,” apparently the ex-ANBU had had enough of playing teacher for the night and literally tossed Naruto out of his house.

*

“I see you have found the answer to the problem of controlling your chakra,” Shino commented the next day, observing the blonde who seemed in high spirits despite having just sat through the boring History lesson which was just finishing.

“Yup. Found myself a new sensei. He’s ex-ANBU and he really knows his stuff. Though he’s a sadistic bastard and hates to repeat himself or answer too many questions,” Naruto grinned at him meaningfully. Shino ignored the jab about his attitude.

Naruto had learned over the last few months, that Shino was a person who did not enjoy speaking. He would respond when asked a question and logically lay out an answer, but he generally avoided starting conversations with anyone except for Naruto, it would seem. He was generally quiet, but that did not mean he could not be stubborn as hell when he disagreed with something, particularly if that something didn’t follow with his logic. He was passionate about his Kikaichu as well as botany and hated people who killed insects. Naruto liked that about him, Shino was a great friend to have – always listened and provided helpful advice, without getting into pointless fights. He was also an excellent student and aspiring ninja, something the blonde greatly admired. Though he had caught up with a lot of the Academy material and had improved his ninjutsu greatly, he still felt like he was far behind everyone else. The damage done by his inattentiveness and unwillingness to learn was almost intimidating, but thankfully Shino and Iruka had both assured him he was well on his way to fixing it by the time graduation came around in just over half a year.

“…I’ll need your help with the exercise, later, by the way,” Naruto chatted away and Shino listened.

“That is agreeable,” the Aburame just nodded and like that, the conversation died again. This wasn’t an uncommon occurrence and much as it irritated Naruto at first, he had grown used to the quietness that Shino’s presence seemed to radiate.

Later, Shino was perhaps slightly disgruntled at having to throw a glass of water at his friend every other minute but since he had agreed to help already, there was no escaping it.

*

Naruto had several lessons with Gorou-sensei after that, sparsely spaced over the next five months. At first, the man was disinclined to teach him more than the control required to make a bunshin, but after Naruto gave him an accurate analysis of the first technique he’d learned there, he seemed _nearly_ pleased with his progress and agreed to help more with only minimal swearing and complaining.

Coating one’s body with chakra could be used to block the rain and remain dry while travelling, as it did not require much focus once mastered. It could even block low-level water techniques, though Naruto had noted that the brute force of a jutsu could still push him back or even knock him over. Water techniques had volume, if nothing else and even if he stayed dry, their sheer mass would hurt him. Gorou-sensei said his observations were spot on, and that even though it was not normally a battle technique, with his chakra reserves, Naruto could definitely utilise it in certain situations.

The blonde, despite learning how to make a bunshin, wanted to keep learning chakra control and eventually elemental manipulation, though that was a long while off. His enormous chakra reserves would only continue to expand as he would get older, Gorou-sensei told him, so it was…logical to keep learning and maintaining his skill. Shino seemed to approve, even though the time they spent together had lessened drastically in favour of Naruto training at his teacher’s house. After the first exercise, Naruto learned how to focus chakra to different parts of his body while blocking punches and kicks from his teacher. This improved his focus while directing chakra on the move greatly and was a basic technique taught to most Genin, as nearly all ninja utilised it to lessen the damage they would take from taijutsu. After that came water walking, then tree walking (his sensei said normally tree walking would come first, but he had chakra reserves larger than most and should do the more chakra intensive exercises first). Each of these stages of chakra control took several weeks if not months for Naruto to move through, as his teacher was adamant about him perfecting each exercise until he could nearly do it in his sleep before moving onto the next one.

Though the ex-ANBU appeared amenable enough to teaching Naruto even after he learned the Bunshin, the blonde did not expect him to hand any knowledge over for free. So he ran small errands for the man such as checking the orphan halls’ weapons inventory to make sure nothing was missing, getting his food shopping and the like. It wasn’t much, but Naruto couldn’t really think of anything else and his sensei seemed pleased enough that his lessons weren’t just being taken for granted.

Finally, Gorou introduced him to the concept of enhancing his sight, smell, hearing and taste with the use of chakra and then even threading a chakra string through a needle, a medic nin training technique, but told him to hold off on those and try to catch up on Genjutsu training before graduation instead.  This still left Naruto far ahead of his peers… only in chakra control, which they would all quickly learn, having a much easier time with it than the blonde Uzumaki. Gorou-sensei made a point of telling him that this advantage would not last and if he didn’t go through these exercises regularly, his chakra control would plummet again as his reserves expanded with age.

“Hmm... sensei? Can I ask you something?” Naruto hesitated, before leaving on what seemed to be the last of his extra-curricular lessons for now.

“What?” Gorou asked not particularly nicely, apprehensive.

“When I first came to you... you said something about the Aburame taking an interest in me. What did that mean?”

“Oh, you actually remembered that?” his teacher raised an eyebrow lazily, though his face clearly said _but it took you five months to ask, damn kid, you’re even dumber than I thought._

“I don’t think you understand just how rare it is for a clan to let an outsider in. Let me put this in perspective for you, squirt. For the last sixty years, not one non-Uchiha has seen the inside of their compound on the edge of town. Well, other than those marrying into the clan, but even those people have been practically royalty themselves. The Aburame aren’t as widely known, because Konoha is a bit on the crazy side for Dojutsu… but make no mistake, they can be just as strong. My immediate superior in the ANBU was an Aburame and I wouldn’t want to get on his bad side, period.” Gorou had a serious look on his face, and Naruto was taken aback by the sudden admission of the man’s past in the Black Ops.

“It’s just cause I’m friends with Shino though…” the blond frowned. “It’s not like I really know any other Aburame, dattebayo. Mizuho-nee-san says she’s not really one cause she only married into the clan recently.”

“You don’t know them but all of them definitely know you. They’re observant, sly fuckers, let me tell you. If you’ve been coming and going from their compound for this long, they probably know more about you than you know yourself. I’d be careful, clans can be very tricky to deal with. If you offend one you’re as good as dead if you’re not protected by someone with a lot of influence.”

“I don’t really get it, but ok. It’s like you’re saying they’re up to something…” Naruto did not like his friend’s family being unfairly accused of anything.

“Squirt, haven’t I taught you a thing? They’re all ninjas aren’t they?”

“… And ninjas lie, steal, kill and fight dirty?”

“That’s right. I’m not saying they’re up to something. I’m saying in a ninja village, ninjas are rarely not up to something and you should watch your step when you tango with a wealthy, old clan, kid.”

“Right.”

“When you first came to me I already knew you were in with their lot. I thought maybe there was something special about you. Being the last Uzumaki in Konoha is interesting in itself, yes, but it’s not all that special, without their knowledge of Fuuinjutsu… So I still have no idea why the hell they picked up an interest in you. You were worthless as a ninja then and now you’re barely better, frankly if I was an Aburame you’d be smaller in my eyes than an ant. Aaaand you have no fucking clue what I’m talking about, do you?” Gorou’s hand shot up to his face and he squeezed the bridge of his nose as though trying to will an intense headache away.

“Do you know who my parents were? Who were the Uzumaki? Tell me, dattebayo!” Naruto was practically bouncing on the spot.

“Didn’t you learn anything from History in the Academy? Wait, that was a rhetorical question.”

“Rhetorical?”

“One you really don’t need to answer,” Gorou now looked nearly ill at having to answer all these questions.

“Ah. Sooooo? The Uzumaki??” Naruto pestered, eyes shining with excitement.

“They were a clan allied with Konoha, well known during the Founder’s era. The Shodai’s wife, Mito was an Uzumaki and is probably one of the most well-known of them. The clan was famous for their mastery of Fuuinjutsu, their longevity, affinity for the element of water and robust chakra reserves. Also, ridiculously red hair. However after their village, Uzushiogakure, was destroyed in the Third Shinobi War, they were practically wiped from the map and scattered all around the Elemental Nations in hiding. As far as I know, there were several Uzumaki staying in the village some years before you would have been born, but I didn’t know any of them and couldn’t guess about your parents. Anyway they left even before the Kyuubi attack, so why the hell you’re here is even more of a mystery. At least I don’t doubt that you’re legitimately one despite being a freak blonde amongst redheads. You have an affinity for water second to probably only the Nidaime himself as far as I know and your chakra reserves are absurd for your age. Still, returning to what I was originally saying before an idiot who doesn’t pay attention to his own clan’s history in school interrupted me… You’ve got potential. I’ll admit as much, squirt. But so do most of the kids who become Genin. It’s just up to them to actually make something of it. Now, if you had a Doujutsu or a Bloodline Limit, I wouldn’t be surprised that a Clan wanted to bring you under their thumb. As you are... I fail to see the point.”

“Okay, okay, dattebayo. I get it. I’m nothing special, fine. You don’t have to gloat about it so much. I’ll watch out for them if it makes you happy, sensei,” Naruto folded his arms across his chest, annoyed at having to listen to a while lecture on something he really should have known. History was by far the least interesting of subjects... at least until he realised that he had a clan who had once been famous. Now he’d be more willing to go through the history books again. How he hadn’t noticed that the Uzumaki were being discussed in class, he had no idea.

“I’m not gloating. I’m not from a clan and I managed to make it into the ANBU, without having a teacher to take me by the hand. So I expect nothing less from you, squirt.” Gorou looked him directly in the eyes for once. Naruto understood.

*

With his advanced chakra control, Naruto was able to dispel every Academy Genjutsu wihout much trouble. He begun working on learning one as well, but found the art rather”abstract”. It required a very accurate recall and a vibrant imagination, neither of which he excelled at. The months moved slowly towards graduation without much disruption. Spending time with Shino either at the training grounds available to the public (amazingly unfrequented by any other Academy students) or at the Aburame compound. Their time there was usually quiet, with either of the boys busy with their respective training or if Shino was reading, Naruto was bored enough to study a bit more as well. As per his sensei’s warning, he was careful about them but so far, he had still not run into any of the other clansmen despite Shino clearly saying there were around forty of them living there. In Naruto’s mind, they were like a hive of human insects, all cramped up in a tight space and out of sight. Only Mizuho-nee-san stopped by the clearing in the garden they usually occupied to give them lunch and occasionally check up on how their studies were progressing. She was busy most of the time though, and rarely stayed with them for long.

Things continued at this leisurely yet actively occupied pace until graduation was just around the corner, only a month away. Then everything happened all at once.

Firstly, Naruto met Shino’s father. The man was an even quieter and taller version of Shino (or technically the other way around) and the blond boy really couldn’t get a read on him. With Shino, he was used to his mannerisms, controlled as they were and could usually guess his mood. He also was used to reading between the swear words and variable moods of Gorou-sensei. Not that he thought the man was making a conscious effort to conceal anything. But this was different. Aburame Shibi was like a rock the shape of a human. He didn’t come off as cold or apprehensive, but there was no indication of him approving of Naruto being in the clan compound, either. While on the surface, their first meeting might have looked uneventful, to the young Uzumaki it was nerve-wracking. With his sensei’s warning ringing in his ears, he was cautious when speaking to the Aburame clan head, who seemed to be silently judging him, measuring his worth. With every exchanged word, Naruto felt further like sinking into himself, feeling inadequate under such scrutiny. With a slight nudge to his arm, Shino had to prompt him to speak at first, which in retrospect, seemed highly unusual because the boy never initiated physical contact with anyone, even with Naruto – at least outside of spars, where he really didn’t hold back.

When he left that evening, shaken and emotionally worn out, Shino also seemed out of sorts, too quiet for Naruto’s liking. After that, the blond couldn’t quite get rid of the feeling of many, many eyes watching him and resolved not to return to the Aburame household for a while.

*

Not too long after that stressful night, another thing shook Naruto out of the routine he’d made for himself over the last year and a half.

Because he paid more attention now, he knew nearly everyone in the class and could recognise what clans many of them were from. Now he understood better why the clan kids tended to stick together rather than mingling with the rest, so it was rather shocking to him when the Hyuuga heiress, Hinata, approached him after class, entirely red on the face and stuttering incoherently. Then, she kissed him.

He was left standing in complete shock while she ran off in a frenzy, nearly tripping over nothing. For the rest of the day, he was in a dazed sort of state, letting even Shino’s words to him just float away. Before, he might not have understood the implications of what had happened, but now, he was very aware of Hinata’s position as heiress to one of the most prestigious clans as well as her standing in the affairs of the family. He could imagine how much it must have cost her to build up the courage to speak to him, especially considering that she must have realised what she would suffer if her clan had found out about her relationship with someone as “common” as Naruto.

Eventually, even the realisation of her reasons for developing a crush on him dawned on the Uzumaki. She was shy and lonely, isolated from her peers. She was constantly undermined by her own family and latched onto someone who appeared as a source of strength to her: someone like Naruto, fighting against adversity. He had been the dead last and an outcast, laughed at by everyone, but he’d eventually conquered his flaws and begun to take his training more seriously and made a friend, eventually becoming accepted by his classmates as well. While he wasn’t well liked, no one made fun of him for being dead last anymore. She must have seen this as a beacon of hope and idolised him for it. Suddenly, he felt… guilty, somehow, for unknowingly leading her on? That wasn’t quite right, but his feelings about it couldn’t be explained so easily.

While he would normally be more than happy to be on the receiving end of a pretty girl’s affections, this only made him feel insecure, responsible and confused. Hinata didn’t really know him. They had never exchanged even a word in or outside of class. There was no way this was a legitimate affection that could become... well, there was no point in thinking about it. There was no future for the two of them, as far as he could tell. He didn’t know her and really, he felt robbed of his first kiss, which should have been for Sakura-chan.

But that thought didn’t sit well with him either. In nearly a year, he realised, he hadn’t really given her much thought. She kept to her group of chatty, popular friends and continued to ignore his existence, while he was absorbed in studying in training. The shy, bullied girl he once liked was clearly gone, in her place a hardcore Uchiha fangirl who didn’t take being a ninja seriously. This realisation didn’t hurt nearly as much in the wake of the turmoil of guilt he felt because of Hinata’s confession. He only felt… empty. He had so few people in his life, and no one to turn for advice on this.

 

The last thing to happen, was something both worse and more predictable than either of the other two.

During the last few months of the Academy, every Friday they were sent out in different groups on a mock-up mission with a Chuunin-sensei. These weren’t particularly difficult and each had a staged combat situation, letting them get used to what a real low-level mission might be like. Naruto honestly thought he’d be better off training by himself, but, having kicked the habit of skipping class, he went along obediently each time.

A ninja can die at any time and battle injuries are a day-to-day experience – every young child at the Shinobi Academy learns this, but they never quite believe it until something goes seriously wrong on a mission. It shouldn’t have come as such a shock – but with the emotional exhaustion dogging Naruto’s every step, he was having a very hard time keeping himself relatively sane. Now, with Shino locked away in a hospital room, the blonde was forced to face his thoughts while waiting for someone – anyone – to tell him what was going on.

The anxiety of facing Shino’s father, the confusion over Hinata’s confession and now, the worry for his friend – it was all too much, he was probably thinking about everything too much.

“Uzumaki-san?” someone’s quiet voice nudged him out of the wound up state of increasing anxiety. He looked up and saw a short man with very straight, black hair and dark goggles on his face. It was an Aburame – someone he didn’t actually know. It was difficult to tell his age because most of his face was covered behind a tall collar, but he wore modern looking, if very baggy and layered clothes.

“Ano, Aburame-san, is Shino going to be alright? No one will tell me what even happened, dattebayo…” Naruto stood up at once, only then noticing the other person who had just arrived.

“Mizuho-nee-san!” he exclaimed with joy, but she made a sharp motion, putting a finger to her lips to silence him.

“This is a hospital, please do not create a commotion,” the short man said and then Naruto realised, this was probably Mizuho’s husband, Shouhei. He looked more gloomy and withdrawn than he’d imagine someone befitting of a kind woman like Mizuho, but with Aburames, it was generally difficult to tell.

“Please tell me what’s going on?” Naruto pleaded to Mizuho, eyes open wide.

“Yes, he will be fine. He was burned by a fire technique and will take some time to recover. A large number of his Kikaichu were destroyed as well. He is not… up to having visitors, yet,” she told him and he could tell she was worried, despite her own reassurance. “He is refusing to even see his father at the moment, so you can probably leave for the night, Naruto.”

“How the hell did he get hit with a fire jutsu? Who did it?” the blond couldn’t contain the anger now rising within him in strong, powerful waves. Whoever did this was going to pay if it was the last thing Naruto did.

“The Academy teachers refuse to put blame on anyone, since it was just an accident... they happen on missions, even simple ones,” Mizuho said sadly. “There’s nothing you can do about that. It’s what being a shinobi entails.”

“It was probably that Uchiha bastard. No, I know it was him, _dattebayo._ He’s always throwing fire techniques around just cause he can, even just in practice and none of the teachers stop him cause he’s the last fucking Uchiha,” Naruto spat, hands balled into fists so tightly his fingers hurt.

“A…and wait, did you say he’s not even seeing his father? He’s in there _alone_?”

Mizuho and Shouhei exchanged a _look_. It was short and he almost didn’t catch it, behind the dark glasses shielding both of their eyes, but it was definitely there.

“He and Shibi-sama have been at odds for several months now, Uzumaki-san,” Shouhei stated coolly and Naruto couldn’t help but feel bad. He hadn’t even known that his friend was having a rough time at home. Some friend he was. Eyes downcast, the blond was consumed by negative thoughts again, but after a moment Mizuho placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Come on,” she said and ushered him out of the hospital and to a bench outside. It was dark already and there was a loud buzzing of insects around. They sat down and only after a moment Naruto noticed that Shouhei had not followed them.

“I apologise. He can be quite direct,” Mizuho said, probably looking at him – with how dark it was and the goggles covering her eyes it was impossible to tell. How did they even see with those sunglasses at night?

“It’s fine... I’m a crappy friend, dattebayo. I didn’t even know anything was wrong till your husband told me.”

“If Shino did not want you to know, there was no way for you to know. He is stubborn and secretive, like most Aburame,” she said stiffly, clearly speaking from experience.

“I know but- he has helped me so much and I haven’t really done anything in return,” Naruto sniffled, feeling unusually inclined to share his thoughts with the woman he had come to see as a sister… or… mother figure.

“I think you’ve done plenty,” she smiled and even without seeing her eyes, he could tell it was genuine. “It’s not always the obvious things that your friends and family will appreciate.”

“I guess you’re right. Thanks, Nee-san,” Naruto forced a little smile through.

“So what else is bothering you? Those little fake smiles won’t work on any Aburame. I’d rather you didn’t try them on Shino, he is unlikely to appreciate it,” Mizuho’s voice was back to it’s melodious, steady and calm pace, but the young Uzumaki could hear the warning behind it.

And so he told her about everything, pouring out the feelings he had kept bottled up. Mizuho listened patiently until he was in the middle of telling her about Hinata and how he felt guilty about her glorified perception of him. Then the woman hugged him fiercely and he couldn’t hold back the tears any longer. Feeling like he was three years old again, lost and alone, he sobbed into her shoulder.

“There is no reason to blame yourself, Naruto. You can’t help what people think of you when they do not know you,” she told him patiently, rubbing soothing circles into his back. “The same goes for Shibi-sama,” she added as an after-thought. “He will come around, you’ll see. Just be yourself and show them who you are through your actions.”

“You’re right, d-dattebayo,” Naruto sniffled, feeling pathetic but altogether better now that he had confided in someone at last. It was difficult to keep everything in, never letting anyone know something was wrong and acting cheerful.

“I will let you in on a secret,” Mizuho said, finally letting him free. “The Aburame probably appear cold and distant to you, but really, they just manage their emotions really well – by laying problems out in the open calmly and logically seeking solutions to them. The important thing is not to repress your feelings – merely to not let them dictate your actions. You need to always keep a clear head and you will see that complicated things might actually be solved in an easy way.” She smiled and he finally felt reassured, returning it.

“I think I get it. Now I feel like an idiot, getting all worked up over nothing, haha,” Naruto couldn’t help but still be completely mortified at the display of weakness and vulnerability he had allowed himself. But, maybe, it wasn’t so bad to have someone like an older sister to comfort him. Not that he would ever let himself melt down like that again, if he could avoid it.

He, by nature, felt very vividly and found it difficult to be calm about a lot of things, but if his emotions were going to take control of his life like this, he would learn to control them some way.

Especially with graduation only seven days away. He needed to focus.

*

Shino was back to the Academy within three days, during which Naruto had put forth a lot of effort just to avoid so much as looking or breathing in the general direction of Hinata.

 

“Shino!” Naruto beamed and shoved the books which had spilled over to his friend’s side of the desk aside to clear some space for him. “You look like crap,” he wasn’t even joking, the young Aburame looked sleep-deprived, with large dark circles creeping out from under his glasses and like he could barely stand. “Shouldn’t you still be at the hospital?”

“The damage from the accident was healed by the medic-nin within the first night, it is only mild chakra exhaustion I am currently afflicted by. My Kikaichu required large quantities of chakra to reproduce and replenish the colony,” Shino explained, but Naruto, frankly, wasn’t buying it. He didn’t think Shino lied, exactly, but there was something there he wasn’t saying.

“If you pass out, I will dump your sorry ass amongst the Uchiha fangirls, dattebayo,” the blonde said, hoping this will at least make the Aburame let someone know if he was _really_ unwell.

“Understood. However, I will be fine,” the other boy replied stubbornly, not looking at Naruto.

 

Naruto had intended to apologise to Shino for being a lousy friend – for not realising Shino had family troubles, for ignoring him for days after Hinata’s confession and for not being there when Shino was hurt. But this was neither the time nor the place – with the black haired boy looking like death warmed up and class about to start... but he wasn’t going to forget it. He had made a promise to Mizuho-nee-san, a promise to be a good friend to Shino, and he would keep it, dattebayo.

“So what actually happened? On the group mission, I mean?” he asked instead, still curious about the details of what had landed his friend in hospital with severe burns. It was lucky Konoha medics were very experienced with those, as Fire was the most common element affinity in the whole nation. His anger at Uchiha Sasuke was definitely still there too, though he’d capped a lid on it for now under Mizuho’s advice to keep a cool head. Until he had proof it was Sasuke who had hurt Shino, he couldn’t really do anything without getting into trouble, but he definitely wasn’t going to let it go. It wasn’t like the Uchiha was the sole user of Fire techniques in their class, however he was the only one who jumped at the chance to flaunt his skill with them at every turn. Stupid, show off, jerk, Naruto thought. In not quite so crude terms, Shino was thinking something similar, about the person who was responsible for killing many of his hive.

“Souji-sensei and I were protecting the mission objective it while Uchiha-san and Arata-san were supposed to trap and attack us. When they appeared, Souji-sensei was too slow to react, he had been acting strangely all day – and blocked my path to escape the fire jutsu,” Shino explained, as emotionless as Naruto had ever seen him. But the blonde wasn’t thinking about that, instead he was trying to control his anger again.

“So it was that _teme_ ,” he spat, ready to march over to the Uchiha and at least punch him in the face a couple of times.

“Don’t,” Shino shook his head. “There is no need to risk getting suspended a few days before graduation.”

“I knowww, dattebayo, but that bastard seriously hurt you. I can’t just... forget about it,” Naruto whined, but remained sitting in place.

“The path of revenge will only lead you to becoming like Uchiha Sasuke yourself,” Shino stared at him and the Uzumaki blanched. That much was true – everyone knew that the emo bastard was out to kill his brother and would do anything for the power to do so. Well, he hadn’t known that until he read up on more recent events in Konoha (finally) and made the connection between the Uchiha massacre and Sasuke’s horrible personality. Before, he’d just thought he was a spoiled brat... which in a way he still was, really.  

“Yeah that’s not happening,” he said, shuddering as he pictured himself in Sasuke’s place. “Let’s just not talk about this now, okay? I still want to punch his teeth out.”

Shino didn’t reply, which was good enough for him. Just then, Hinata entered the classroom and Naruto whipped out a notebook and held it up right in front of his face.

“Why did I have to come here so early again?” he grumbled to himself quietly, but the young Aburame clearly heard it.

“Hinata… confessed to me the other day. You know, when I was… a crappy friend and practically ignored you for a few days? I’m really sorry about that, dattebayo. I was being selfish again,” Naruto finally worked up the courage to broach the topic that had still been bothering him.

“There is no need to apologise, Uzumaki-san. Why? Because I had already known what happened and did not consider your absentmindedness a purposeful act. It is only natural in such a situation,” Shino surprised him by saying and the blonde felt a little bit better. Sure, he still thought there was no excuse for ignoring a friend but at least Shino understood that it wasn’t his intention.

“How’d you know about that? I haven’t told anyone… except Mizuho-nee-san,” he berated himself for not realising this sooner.

“Actually, I have not spoken to Mizuho-nee-sama. She was present at the hospital only briefly. I knew, because I have seen Hinata following you on several occasions and guessed her intentions towards you based on her behaviour.”

At this, Naruto was both alarmed and curious. Alarmed at the depth of Hinata’s strange obsession with him, and interested to know how Shino was able to analyse the girl’s motive so easily. Shino had never so much as hinted at an interest in romantic relations between other people or involving himself, so the blond had just assumed his friend was oblivious to such things, which now he could clearly see wasn’t true. It was something to think over later.

“What?! She’s been _stalking_ me? Are you serious? That’s freaking weird, dattebayo,” Naruto was instantly uncomfortable. “And why didn’t you tell me?” he hissed at Shino, eyes narrowed accusingly.

“Why? Because as a ninja, you need to be more aware of your surroundings. Additionally, her intentions did not appear malicious and it wasn’t my place to interfere.”

Naruto was a little put out by the fact that he had not noticed the girl following him, she wasn’t even a Genin either, for God’s sake.

“Well, had you told me, maybe I could have avoided a very stressful situation,” he replied in his best imitation of Aburame speech. He would have been more than happy to pre-emptively shake Hinata off his ‘back’ before she had stolen his first kiss. Well, it wasn’t that big of a deal, he wasn’t a girl and not going to cry about the loss, but it did sting his feelings a little.

“Apologies,” Shino didn’t look sorry in the slightest. “However, you cannot avoid her forever. There is a possibility you will be on the same Genin cell. It would be prudent to resolve this matter as soon as possible.”

“Yeah… I just don’t know what to say, dattebayo. She seems like a nice enough girl and she’s going through a rough time at home. I don’t want to hurt her feelings, I guess.”

He dared to look over at Hinata, who was sitting all alone in the corner.

“I’ll talk to her later and turn her down as gently as I can,” he sighed to himself.

*

It wasn’t easy – being the ‘bad guy’ and having to make a girl cry. But he had no inclination to date Hinata, even if he could look past creepy idolization and stalking. He briefly imagined this was probably what Sasuke felt like when confessed to by crazy fangirls and the thought made him shudder.

When he told Hinata that he wanted to focus on becoming a ninja first, rather than dating, he wasn’t exactly lying. He hadn’t thought of going out with anyone since he met Shino and he _was_ always way too busy with training. Still, seeing Hinata withdraw into herself even further, pale eyes brimming with tears was heart-breaking. She was kind and gentle, as far as he could tell, and did not deserve to be all alone. He just wasn’t the right person to comfort her in the way she looked for.

Saying ‘sorry’ and walking away was probably one of the hardest things he’d ever made himself do. It was against his nature to leave someone who was suffering, but he had a feeling it was for the better. She needed to find a real friend, rather than a half-imaginary hero, to help her. Like Shino had helped him. But it couldn’t be Naruto – at least not yet, because being around him would probably only hurt her more.

When he returned to the classroom, Shino had perked up a bit and engaged Naruto in light conversation about the school work he had missed during his stay at the hospital. Clearly, he must have been showing his feelings too much if the Aburame was going out of his way just to distract him.

Control your emotions and never let them overtake you, he heard Mizuho-nee-san’s words echoing in his mind. He could see now, that it was not only for the protection of your own thoughts and feelings, but for others as well. He hadn’t meant to worry Shino by moping around.

When he left the Academy in the afternoon, he finally began to feel a little better. If he worked hard, things could only improve. He’d be a good friend to Shino, maybe eventually find a way to help Hinata and get stronger, much stronger, to one day become Hokage and protect everyone. That was his ninja way – never give up, dattebayo!

*

Iruka watched Naruto and Shino leave the classroom. There was something different about Naruto now – of course, he was still very active and got fidgety quickly, a bit loud as well, but there was a touch of maturity there now. The surprisingly small amount of orange on his new clothes might have been helping with that a little, too. (What Iruka didn’t know was that Naruto only stopped wearing it because he was attracting too many insects at the Aburame garden and just got used to it eventually.) It saddened him to think that in less than a week, his precious students would go out into the world and become fully fledged shinobi, ready to fight for the village. But that was life and seeing even the ‘dead-last’ Naruto, who had improved and gotten stronger in a short time filled him with hope – they would go on to become leaders, teachers, fighters then pass on their knowledge to the next generation when the time came and the Will of Fire would continue to protect their home.


	4. Better Late Than Never

The day was finally here and Naruto couldn’t quite contain his excitement. He would finally be a real ninja, able to buy his own weapons, go on missions and learn elemental jutsu. He had little doubt about passing the exam, his test scores on written work had been steadily getting good grades, his ninjutsu was really good for academy level now – he had amazing chakra control for his reserves, he could dispel all Academy genjutsu and cast a simple one of his own – just to create a distraction or mislead an enemy with a swirl of leaves in their vision. His taijutsu was alright, he had amazing endurance and what he lacked in skill there he made up in the quantity of attacks. He was feeling pretty confident over all, despite having woken up too early than it was smart and already feeling a little tired from all the waiting around.

So naturally, he was very shocked to find out that the final test was only one technique – one of the three Academy jutsu, which he had perfected many months ago. What was going on? Surely they couldn’t make everyone here Genin, just because they could do a bunshin? Half these people couldn’t last two seconds in a real fight!

The queue to the teacher’s desk was long and ordered alphabetically by surname, so Naruto was at the end and starting to grow frustrated with the wait, though the examination hadn’t even started yet.

“We’re just waiting on Mizuki-sensei to get here, he seems to be running a little late,” Iruka told them, looking nervously around for the other teacher.

After the first twenty minutes, everyone was getting agitated, a small catfight between Ino and Sakura broke out and still there was no sign of the other teacher, without whom the exam couldn’t’ start.

“Just... sit down and read or something. I will go find someone who can tell me where Mizuki-,” Iruka didn’t get to finish his sentence because an ANBU with a cat mask appeared right beside him, starting a gasp from most of the students in the room.

“Chuunin Mizuki Souji has been apprehended and convicted of treason. This exam is postponed until a later time, by the orders of the acting Fifth Hokage Tsunade Senju. You are all to stand by for further instructions,” she said to Iruka and then vanished again. Chaos erupted in the classroom, with everyone frantically asking what happened.

“Quiet!” Iruka bellowed, but it didn’t have much of an effect on the students, who were now snapping out of their shock and beginning to question that the ANBU said _the Fifth Hokage?_

“You will be quiet and not leave this room until you are dismissed, is that clear?” their sensei said sternly, before disappearing into the hallway, likely to find out what was happening.

“What do you think is going on?” Naruto asked Shino, sitting down next to him, away from the fray of everyone else buzzing with conversation about the same topic.

“There is not enough information to form an analysis.”

“That’s what I thought,” Naruto sighed. “I just hope we will get to graduate today.”

“N-Naruto-k-kun,” a small voice came from behind them and Naruto turned to see Hinata approach him in uncertain steps.

“Hi Hinata,” he tried his best to give her a natural smile, but he wasn’t sure he succeeded.

“Hello, Aburame-s-san, as well,” she gave a formal bow to the other clan heir.

Shino only nodded back.

“I j—just wanted to tell you, N-Naruto-kun, before graduation… We might not see each o-other for a long time a-after team assignments. I’m s-sorry, if my actions u-upset you,” she looked genuinely sorry, if still on the verge of tears like the last time he’d seen her.

“It’s okay. I was a bit shaken up, true, but it’s okay now, really,” Naruto smiled at her encouragingly. He was pleasantly surprised that she’d come to him on her own, and so soon. Maybe they could still be friends, after everything.

“T-thank you, for everything, N-Naruto-kun,” she then bowed and scurried away quickly, looking like she was going to faint again. “I’m sorry,” she squeaked quietly once more without facing them again. Still, it was progress in the right direction if she was trying to confront her own feelings and weaknesses. 

“That was a bit unexpected, dattebayo,” he said to Shino, who didn’t deign it worth a response. Or maybe he just didn’t have any comment about his and Hinata’s ‘friendship’. It was really hard to get a read on him sometimes.

Then the door to the room burst open and a short, big-breasted lady with bright blonde hair practically ran in, Iruka trailing behind her.

“Quiet, brats,” she barked and immediately, the room fell silent. They all recognised her at once: the Legendary Tsunade Senju.

“I’m your new Hokage and you will listen to what I have to say because I won’t be repeating myself. A month from now you will undergo an alternative exam I have designed. Until then, you are free to go because next year’s classes will be beginning in a few weeks and we cannot spare the teachers for you. I don’t want to hear any complaints about this, am I clear?” she spoke quickly and to the point, sure she would not be interrupted. Most of the genin hopefuls were honestly too intimidated by her to so much as breathe too loud.

Sakura however, in either bravery or stupidity, raised her hand.

“What happened to Mizuki-sensei?”

Tsunade sent a thunderous look her way.

“You weren’t told because you don’t need to be told anything. You are not even Genin yet, focus on becoming a ninja first before questioning the Hokage, girl.”

The pink haired girl shrunk in her seat and fell silent.

“Dismissed,” Tsunade barked out one last order and they filed out of the room quickly, no one willing to make a fuss.

When they were outside the Academy, Naruto finally reached his limit.

“What the hell is going on, dattebayo!”

“Are you referring to the exam or the situation concerning Souji Mizuki?” Shino questioned in a tone of mild interest.

“Uh…. Both I guess. Mostly I’m just frustrated that we won’t be able to become Genin for a whole another month. I never liked that Mizuki anyway and he let you get hurt so… I’m not so surprised.” The blonde’s face scrunched up in displeasure at the thought of his friend being in hospital because of a teacher’s inattentiveness. Though in retrospect, if the man was a traitor the situation could have been much worse.

“I understand, but all we can do is wait.”

That was when Shino’s father emerged from the group of hovering parents, all having come expecting their children to have graduated and to congratulate them, only to be greeted by chaos everywhere and no-one knowing what exactly happened.

“Shino,” he said and the young Aburame excused himself and left after him. Naruto was surprised – not once had his friend’s dad showed up at the Academy until now and somehow, he didn’t feel as though he was there to congratulate him on graduation. However, now alone and with nothing better to do, he headed off home. Surprisingly, there were no adults around at the orphan halls, which was quite unusual, but after some thought Naruto figured it was probably something to do with the new Hokage. Feeling quite left out of the workings of the village, he tried to make himself busy with something, just to keep his mind off the frustration of not being able to graduate yet.

There wasn’t any academy material he really need to revise – so he set his sights on something a bit more interesting. Learning elemental jutsu. For true mastery of those, he’d have to practice elemental manipulation, something that even he thought was slightly out of his reach for now. But to just learn a lower level water jutsu was definitely something he could do by himself. He had been tinkering with creating water chakra a bit already, but without a water source, it was practically impossible. At least for now – he had read a lot about the Nidaime Hokage after a tip from Gorou-sensei. The man was a legend as far as far as jutsu creation went – he had invented many of them himself and was unparalleled in water manipulation. He could draw the water vapour from the air in large quantities and create techniques anywhere. Naruto had once idolised the Fourth Hokage, but after finding out that the Second had created the technique which the Fourth made so famous, his focus shifted. The Second was not only an awe-inspiring warrior, but also a great Kage, who contributed greatly to the stabilisation of Konoha and bringing it the prosperity it was still enjoying today. He ruled the village in a well organised and very efficient manner until his death – to protect his young students. It was something Naruto admired greatly – and silently vowed to become a Hokage as good and selfless as Tobirama Senju.

That was how he came to be so fascinated by water jutsu – he had an affinity for it and his idol was a master of it of the highest skill. Still, he couldn’t use even the simplest water jutsu yet – just dip his hand in water, then manipulate the droplets into a small clump on his hand and make it maintain a vague shape. It was underwhelming, but every time he tried it he felt like he was becoming more familiar with the use of water chakra. It was constantly in motion – even if you couldn’t see that without looking very, very closely.

It was late at night that some Jounin he had never met before came to get everyone living in the building and told them there would be an announcement by the Hokage the next morning and that they all had to be there, no exceptions. Thinking it would be best to rest up for the day ahead instead of worrying about things his had no control over – as Shino would say – Naruto went to sleep after a short while of practicing his chakra control. It had become a habit of sorts and he usually read a book while sitting or walking on the wall of his room. Control exercises were boring as hell, so he found ways to combine them with other training to make them more interesting. He knew his control was already probably about Jonin-level, but sadly he had no techniques to use with it.

*

Naruto had never realised just how many ninja there were in Konoha, not until he saw nearly everyone, minus those away on missions, standing in perfect order on top of the Hokage Tower.

He and his fellow almost-Genin were with the general public, standing in the packed-full square in front of the Tower’s entrance. From there, they could see the Third Hokage and Tsunade Senju, behind them a few of the ANBU (the rest presumably hidden for the Hokage’s protection) and the Jonin ranks on top of the tower’s roof. The Chuunin and current Genin were below, in the front yard of the tower, separated from the crowd outside.

Just then, Naruto realised just how few Jounin there actually were. Even fewer ANBU and his part-time teacher had been one. He didn’t know how lucky he had been to meet Gorou-san and win his approval until this moment and he thanked Kami for this chance. He’d have to speak to the man later and thank him for the help with chakra control, again.

There were a lot of Chuunin and even more Genin. The realisation struck Naruto – it was very difficult to get promoted and on top of that, many young ninja died on missions without ever being able to rise in rank. The road to Hokage seemed to stretch insurmountably before him, finally laid clearly in front of his eyes. From the thousands of ninja in front of him, only select few dozen would become Jonin and even fewer ANBU. The position of a Kage was miles above even that of ANBU, the very pinnacle of shinobi knowledge and skill.

Despite feeling completely intimidated, Naruto felt a new determination wash over him. He had worked his ass off over the last year, but there was still so much more to learn.

The Third Hokage cleared his throat and his chakra-amplified voice carried over the crowd, silencing the rippling crowd stretching out before him.

“Welcome, people of Konoha,” he began in a grave, sagely voice. He looked older than Naruto had always imagined him, but then again he had been a Kage longer than anyone else in the Elemental Countries, now that the blond thought about it.

“As many of you know by now, yesterday Chuunin Mizuki Souji was apprehended yesterday and charged with treason. This is true,” the old Hokage said and let the crowd have a moment of surprised murmurs to process the information.

“He was working for the missing-nin of Konoha, Orochimaru of the Sannin. He stole information which could have brought about the destruction of this village. In light of this development, I realised that, in my old age I had let my guard down and nearly let harm come to Konoha. As such, I have decided it is finally time to appoint my successor – Tsunade Senju of the Sannin. It is my hope that she will guide this village well in the coming times and protect you all to the best of her ability.”

Cheers erupted and Tsunade stepped forward.

“My name is Tsunade Senju and I am the granddaughter of the First Hokage. I have helped Hokage-sama lead the village and governed the Konoha Hospital for the last fourteen years. As your new Hokage, I will defend this village and its people to my last breath,” the woman said with utter conviction, practically radiating power. This was the legendary Slug Sannin, a true master of battle and healing, a ninja who survived war and became one of the strongest shinobi Konoha had ever produced. An Uzumaki and a Senju, as far as Naruto knew – the granddaughter of Mito Uzumaki and his very, very distant relative, the blonde realised. Not that it mattered. Though, maybe she might know either of Naruto’s parents… He decided to not dwell on that, to avoid getting his hopes up for nothing again.

She was a true prodigy and probably the only one in the village currently worthy of being the Third’s successor. There were strong Jonin in Konoha, such as Kakashi of the Sharingan and Asuma of the Twelve Guardians, but none of them came even close to her prestigious status and immense skill.

Naruto was honestly awed by the new Kage. He hadn’t known many female shinobi, except Mizuho-nee-san, who he knew was a Jonin so she had to be very, very powerful, but he had never seen her fight or heard of her skills. His classmates were, honestly, pathetic as Kunoichi. Sakura and Ino were at the top of the class, but they lacked any sort of motivation to improve themselves. Naruto could probably beat them both with his eyes closed. Well, that was probably an exaggeration, but they had no endurance and their punches looked weak so he’d definitely outlast either in a fight without much effort. Tenten was the only one he knew who was dedicated to the ninja lifestyle – she was a weapons specialist and he hadn’t seen her much in the last year, other than passing her on the street a few times, with her team. They seemed to be always training and he had no doubt she could beat him in a fight as he was right now. He vaguely recalled her saying she aspired to be a famous kunoichi like Tsunade, not that he had really known who that was at the time. Now, he respected his friend’s dream hell of a lot more.

Tsunade literally breathed power. Her walk, her speech and her aura both radiated a strength one only earned through years of battle. It was a humbling sight and Naruto just knew she was the best person to protect the village. She was a leader he could trust in and be inspired by.

The only question which lingered in his mind was: why now. The betrayal of a ninja was hardly unheard of – it didn’t warrant a change in Hokage just like that. Had that been the case, the Third would have stepped down when Orochimaru defected, especially since he was the man’s prized student. There seemed to be something else going on. The Third’s words suddenly echoed in his mind. He hoped that Tsunade would guide and protect them in the coming times. It didn’t sound odd at first, but now he wasn’t so sure. He wasn’t a person who could decipher other’s words so easily, but something about that sentece bothered him. Like there was a bigger picture he wasn’t quite seeing. An inauguration of a new Hokage, he had imagined – wouldn’t normally be so rushed. It only confirmed his suspicion that something important had happened… or was going to happen. He wanted to become a ninja as soon as possible, to become stronger and to _understand._  

*

“Uzumaki-san,” Shino called out to him just as the crowd was beginning to disperse after the ceremony. No one had expected an inauguration of a new Hokage to take place that day, so everyone was hungry and tired after a long day of standing around, eager to leave.

“Shino! I didn’t even see you in the crowd!” Naruto beamed at his friend.

“I was not far from where you were standing. Your awareness to your surroundings still needs much improvement.”

“Ahaha... well you’re not wrong dattebayo. Sorry,” the blonde’s ears burned red with embarrassment. “Want to help me train with that since we’ve got a month to burn before the exam?”

Shino seemed to hesitate for a moment.

“My father has… taken an interest in my training after the incident on the mission with Mizuki Souji. Why? He believes if I was stronger it could have been avoided entirely. He has ordered me to leave with him to train in our clan techniques for a month, away from the Village. My apologies, but I won’t be able to meet with you until the exam.”

“That blows,” Naruto whined. “But if you’re training all month, I’m not going to slack off either.  When you come back, we’ll both be stronger and that’s a promise, dattebayo!”

Shino nodded, approvingly.

“Will you be alright though? Mizuho-nee-san said you and your father haven’t been getting on so well in a while.”

“It will be fine. We are at odds, but we must set aside our differences in this matter. You do not need to concern yourself with the politics of my clan,” Shino replied.

Naruto couldn’t help but feel a bit like Shino had just basically told him to mind his own business, but wasn’t about to pry any further. He’d learned long ago that attempting to goad an Aburame into giving up information was a wasted effort. Mizuho-nee-san was the nicest Aburame he knew but even she could be impossible to question.

“You better work hard or I’ll be stronger than you in no time, dattebayo,” Naruto grinned instead and waved his friend goodbye. Meanwhile, he was thinking about how much Shino would learn in a month under a respected clan leader’s tutoring. He was already stronger than Naruto – smarter, too. There was only one thing to do – find himself a teacher of his own.

*

This… turned out to, once again not be as easy as he’d hoped. Gorou-san wasn’t at home and he had no neighbours Naruto could ask about his whereabouts. He resolved to find out at the mission office if he was out of the village – but this plan was once again, foiled when he was asked for his sensei’s surname to find his file. Which he didn’t know.

Once again his own lack of consideration came to bite him in the ass. The man had taught him so much and told him about his family and all the while Naruto didn’t even know his full name. He couldn’t help but feel like an ungrateful brat, just a bit.

Over the next few days it became apparent that his sensei wasn’t in the village – because his house was locked up with no sign of anyone coming and going. He was almost tempted to give up and just train on his own, but he just couldn’t stand the thought of breaking his one-sided promise to Shino.

Thinking of how last time, he only got answers after getting practically robbed from all his money by some woman named Anko that everyone seemed scared of, who then spent it all on dango, he wasn’t all that eager to head back to the Jonin lounge any time soon. But maybe that really was the place to start, so he headed there cautiously.

It seemed almost empty, not that he was really surprised considering it was the middle of the day. But one man was there, sitting lazily on the couch, nose buried in a little orange book so much you couldn’t see his face, just a bunch of silver hair standing up dramatically.

“Ano.. Excuse me, Shinobi-san?” Naruto prodded gently, only sticking his head in through the door, unsure if he was really allowed to just walk in there.

“Hmm, did you say something?” the man finally replied after a moment, looking up to revel a single narrowed eye from above the book.

“Sorry, I’m looking for a Jonin named Gorou. It seems like he’s out on a mission and I’m wondering when he might be back…” Naruto trailed off uncertainly, fidgeting.

“Ma… would that be Kashima Gorou-san? I know him, but how come you do, kid?”

“He sort of teaches me sometimes. I need his help to get stronger in the next three weeks until the Exam, dattebayo.”

The man stared at him flatly.

“Ok, even if I was to believe you, which honestly I don’t since the man hates kids, why are you in such a rush to train? Besides, Jonin aren’t really supposed to teach non-shinobi,” he drawled, flipping a page in his book.

“My friend got hurt on a mission a while ago. I want to get strong so I can protect my team-mates when I become Genin!” Naruto said confidently. He was going to get strong, no matter what.

“Hmm... well anyway Kashima’s due back tomorrow or the day after. Good luck with convincing him to train you though,” he snorted and went back to his book.

“Thank you!” Naruto exclaimed and left in much higher spirits. Meanwhile, Hatake Kakashi went to see the new Hokage in her office and after looking through the Genin applicant list, pointed at one particular picture.

“Uzumaki Naruto. I want him on my team.”

*

His sensei returned two days later than expected, which caused Naruto to worry a bit. Of course, this was something that happened a lot – delays on missions and unexpected detours were often heard of from anyone who’d been a shinobi for long, but he still couldn’t quite shake off the feeling. He knew he’d have to get used to that – with him and everyone he knew being ninja.

“Morning, Gorou-san!” Naruto chirped, when the surprised man opened the door. He had his arm in a sling and looked exceedingly grumpy.

“What the hell are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be with your new team?” he questioned but let Naruto into the house.

“Well, the exam got postponed. Haven’t you heard?” the kid was shocked that he actually knew something the man didn’t.

“I only got back late last night. Haven’t slept yet. So, squirt. I assume you want something? How about you get me up to speed on what’s going on then we can talk,” Gorou got himself a coffee and sat down with a sigh.

“Shouldn’t you, like... rest a bit, sensei?” Naruto asked with a frown, looking at the broken arm and shadows under the man’s eyes.

“I’ll crash for good later. Now talk.”

“Well... I don’t really know what happened. Our teacher didn’t show up to the exam then ANBU appeared out of nowhere, said he’d been arrested for treason. Then the new Hokage burst in and told us the exam was postponed. The next day she was inaugurated. Mizuki was working for Orochimaru and stole some important information, the Third hadn’t been able to prevent it so he said it was time for him to step down. I think there’s more going on, though,” Naruto tried to surmise everything concisely, though it didn’t come out as organised as it seemed in his mind. Still, Gorou nodded in understanding.

“Hmm… well, something else is going on all right. I was on a mission in the Wind Country – the Kazekage’s son has gone missing. You’re not supposed to know this, but since I think you’ll find out soon I will tell you anyway. You kids need to be prepared.”

“Prepared for what?”

“I don’t know. War, probably. The Kazekage’s son was a _Jinchuuriki_.”

“What? And he’s missing? That can’t be good,” Naruto frowned. He had read about Jinchuuriki when he researched a bit more into the history of his clan. Apparently, Mito Uzumaki sealed the Kyuubi into herself to protect Konoha in a battle a long time ago.

“No indeed. My team was sent to help search for him, but had no luck. We ran into S-ran missing ninja, though – and that’s what tipped me off. Missing nin that strong, going around together? This stinks worse than anything I’d had to deal with during my time in the ANBU,” Gorou admitted with a groan then gulped down his coffee.

“And why were you on a mission? I thought you were retired or something?” Naruto questioned curiously, not sure what to say. His sensei snorted.

“I was grounded in the village, not retired. I’m not that old, squirt. Psych eval said I was unfit for duty, but they cleared me again a while back. Just glad I’m not stuck at that stinking orphanage anymore.”

“Hey! It’s not that bad,” Naruto sulked, though he did kind of see the man’s point.

“I think you kids will have to get strong real fast cause very few of you look ready for the front lines, and with how things are looking, it’s not going to be peaceful for much longer…” Gorou muttered, closing his eyes and resting his head against the couch, slouched in his seat.

“That’s… kinda why I’m here, dattebayo.”

“Figured. Not like you’d visit for my company.”

Naruto pouted, but made a mental note to not just be a giant sponge and to actually visit every now and again without some hidden agenda.

“I’ve been trying to learn a water jutsu but it’s not like they’re just in the library for the taking if you’re not even Genin yet. But what I really need to do is learning how to sense my surroundings better, I had a girl stalk me for months and I never noticed,” the blonde explained.

“Hmm… Since you’re partially the reason I’m allowed on missions again, I’ll help you out. You’re already my student and I feel just a tiny bit responsible for your survival, so I won’t go easy on you.”

“Thanks, sensei!”

“But first I think I really do need to sleep. That coffee just made me feel ten times fucking worse. Get out,” Gorou wasn’t having any of the touchy-feely teacher-student crap and shoo’d him out of the house again.

*

Gorou-sensei did not go easy on Naruto, as he had said. Now, after running laps since 5 in the morning, then exercising chakra control and sparring against his teacher, who still tossed him around like he weighed nothing with only one operable arm, the young Uzumaki was absolutely exhausted. And this was only halfway through the daily routine his sensei had devised.

“Guess I can show you a jutsu since you’ve kept up pretty well so far, squirt.”

“I have a name, you know,” Naruto whined, but sat down on the ground, facing his teacher. They were outside by a small stream in the forest a short walk away from his sensei’s house.

“It doesn’t interest me. Now listen, you will use the water walking exercise to remain on the water while also trying the jutsu I’ve showed you before.”

“The small water jet one?”

“That was just the first step to a different jutsu, adapted to suit the situation. Now, you’re going to concentrate on pushing chakra out of your hand and forming a stream of water. With this much water around and your control, it shouldn’t be too difficult.”

Naruto did as instructed and indeed, a feeble spray of water shot from his hand.

“Not bad. Try to keep a small but fast chakra flow, it will increase the pressure.”

“You can change how fast your chakra moves?”

“With good control, yes. This is particularly important for wind techniques, but its useful here too. Now focus.”

Naruto tried the jutsu over and over again, managing to improve only slightly until the end of the day.

“There’s only two weeks and I haven’t got very far, dattebayo,” he whined when he dragged himself back to his sensei’s house, soaked to the skin and exhausted.

“You’ve made more progress than I had expected, actually.”

“Really?”

“No, I just said that to confuse you,” Gorou rolled his eyes. “We’re starting early again tomorrow, but we won’t be training. Your body needs to rest. I’m going to drill you on exam questions.”

“Huh? Why?”

“What sort of person do you think Tsunade Senju is? You _did_ read up on her, I dare hope?”

“Well, yeah. She’s like my very distant relative so I kinda read everything on her I could find.”

“And I thought you hated reading…”

“I really do, but it’s actually useful sometimes, dattebayo.”

“And do you actually remember any of it?”

“She’s been head of the Konoha Hospital for the last fourteen years and has established a school for medical ninja. During that time she has reduced patient deaths by twenty percent by revitalising old procedures and introducing new health and safety rules. She is the only Sannin that has never had a Genin team, instead she has only ever had one apprentice – Shizune Katou. She is a war veteran and a prodigy of the medical arts… eh... that’s about all I remember, hehe.” Naruto was still proud of having memorized this much. Remembering large quantities of information wasn’t exactly his strong suit.

“You’ve seen her at the inauguration. What is she _like_?”

“Strong. Decisive.”

“Exactly. Now think about it. She’s only ever had one student unlike the other two Sannin who each had a Genin squad, and has managed to make the hospital efficient even with an extreme shortage of medical ninja. She’s someone who values quality over quantity and isn’t scared to change procedures to increase efficiency.”

“You think she’ll make the Exam more difficult?”

“It’s in her business to make sure you don’t pass. She doesn’t need children in a time of war, she needs skilled soldiers who won’t get in the way. I am certain she has also considered the cost of education per child over six years and will introduce laws to lower the number of civilian-born applicants.”

“Why? There’s been lots of clanless ninja who have become very strong.”

“And I’m sure she knows that, her team-mate in the Sannin was one after all. However, think about it: the exam’s difficulty has lowered over the last few years and more kids are passing, but aren’t ready for it. It costs a fortune to train a class of shinobi. She would rather pick up fewer of them but ensure those ones will pass and be skilled enough to actually join the ninja ranks. Currently, the drop-out rate for kids who want to become Genin is like... 60% or something.  That’s after six years of education.”

“But... the test was so easy, how can 60 percent fail?” Naruto frowned in concentration.

“I’m not telling. The point is: she will make the test more difficult so you better revise. But I’m not going to just drill you on simple Academy stuff, I want you to understand some politics and clan etiquette, too. If you’re serious about being Hokage, you’ll need it and I think you could use it anyway, ungrateful brat. Your taijutsu needs a brushing-up, too but that can wait till you’ve rested a day.”

Naruto groaned and then quickly passed out on the couch.

*

“You’re doing it wrong. You’re just throwing chakra into it and hoping it’ll work. With water, you have to feel its flow. You need to use your chakra to give it shape and push it forward,” Gorou-sensei sighed after Naruto still didn’t get the simple jutsu. This was to be expected, to a degree – the first elemental jutsu was always the most difficult to learn, but they didn’t have the time to take it easy.

“I’m _trying_ , it’s not that fucking easy, dattebayo!” Naruto was growing frustrated because his sensei had been more grumpy than usual this morning and was just sitting there criticising what he was doing.

“Yes it is.”

A blast of water knocked Naruto off his feet.

“How come you know so much about this anyway? Water isn’t your element, right?” Naruto grumbled, hair dripping with water and clinging to his face.

Gorou rolled his eyes but was glad the idiot was at least thinking for himself a bit.

“Jonin need to know at least two different elements and I know three, Lightning, Fire and a bit of Water. Also I was in the genin team of one of the Nidaime’s students, whose affinity was water and had learned every trick there was to learn from the man himself.”

“Isn’t it difficult to learn opposing elements like Fire and Water though?”

“Very, which is why my sensei put me through chakra control hell.”

“That explains so much…” Naruto groaned.

“You’ll thank me later, squirt. Now, I said before that you have an ungodly affinity for Water so I expect you to make good use of it. Get back to work,” Gorou seemed to cheer up a bit and took out a book to sit down with while leaving Naruto to his work.

“Ne… who was your sensei? I know the Second Hokage taught three and one of them was the Third Hokage who taught the Sannin.”

“You’re awfully knowledgeable about the Second all of a sudden,” his sensei scoffed, not wanting to be distracted from his book.

“Well… I used to really look up to the Fourth but then I found out how much better of a Hokage the Second was and I’d like to become a bit like him, I guess,” Naruto tried again to attempt his jutsu, with little success.

“Well that’s not going to happen. The Second was known to be very strict and a reserved individual, practically your exact opposite. Actually… that gives me an idea.”

“Huh? You never answered my question.”

“Shut your trap, we can play 20 questions later. Sit down on the water and relax.”

“…Okay?” Naruto balanced on the water with chakra and sat down cross legged.

“You’re too agitated. You’re getting frustrated with your lack of progress and it’s just making it worse. Try to meditate and become one with the water: calm but constantly in motion and _powerful._ ”

Naruto did as instructed, but found it difficult to focus. It took him several minutes, but then he thought about Shino. He had a calming presence, around him Naruto always felt clear-minded and in control. That was when he felt it. The water underneath him, humming gently. His chakra, in tune with his surroundings.

Manipulating his chakra carefully, he shot a blast of water out of his index finger at the nearby tree. There wasn’t any damage, but that could always be fixed with more chakra. That, he was sure of.

“Oh? Not bad,” Gorou then smirked. “Again. More power.”

Naruto concentrated and a thin, almost sharp stream of water cut the tree in half. He gaped at the result of his work in awe.

“What is this technique called?” he asked, hoping for a cool jutsu name.

“Well technically it’s not a jutsu at all, just the first step to other techniques such as the Water Whip (Mizu no Muchi) or the Water Bullets (Teppodama). But you probably have enough firepower to make it work as a technique of its own. Usually, you would only release a quick, large burst of chakra for a bullet or a low-power stream for the whip, so you could actually last while maintaing it. But you have enormous chakra reserves so unlike most people, you will be able to continue a very high pressure output over time to cut through obstacles or redirect the stream to continue your attack if it’s dodged. Get it?”

“That’s… freaking awesome, dattebayo! Can I name it?!” Naruto beamed, excited.

“Technically, you created a new jutsu so... I don’t see why not.”

“Water Gun! Also known as Mizudeppo!” the Uzumaki already knew that was the name he liked best and he was going to stick with it. It was _awesome._

“Now if you can just make it like this every time, you will have mastered it. For that, you’re going to need to learn to control your emotions – or the water just won’t listen to you.”

“The important thing is not to repress your feelings – but to control them and not let them dictate your actions,” Naruto said, determined to master his abundance of excitement and to tame his anger.

“Whoever said that?” Gorou-sensei raised an eyebrow curiously.

“Aburame Mizuho-nee-san,” the blond supplied, thanking his lucky stars for meeting the kind-hearted woman.

“Hmm... she’s a very powerful Jonin, you know. You’re one lucky kid,” the man surprised him by saying, but then did not elaborate on the thought.

“I’ve never seen her fight or anything. Is she that good?”

“You don’t want to see her fight, believe me.” Gorou had a sort of disgusted face on, which just made Naruto even more curious, but then he remembered his previous question.

“I did the jutsu! So tell me who was your sensei, dattebayo!”

“Ugh.. I was hoping you’d have forgotten about that.”

“Nope,” Naruto grinned.

“Utatane Koharu. Not many people know she even took on a team, I guess.”

“The Second’s female student?” the young Uzumaki guessed.

“Yup. And up until very recently, the Third’s advisor. She didn’t take on any Genin teams until very close to the end of her career as an active shinobi, during the Sandaime’s first reign, but when she taught us, she taught us everything the Second taught her.”

“So I’m receiving the teachings of the Second Hokage himself,” Naruto grinned again, more than a little excited about this information.

“And I expect to you to live up to that, squirt.”

“Ano… I’ve been meaning to ask, sensei...”

“It’s always a shitload more questions when I’m ‘ _sensei_ ’.... What now?” Gorou had barely looked into his book when he was forced to look up again.

“Why did you decide to teach me? I mean… I’m just some kid with a lot of chakra. You’re an ex-ANBU, it’s not like you owe me anything… I mean I’m really grateful, dattebayo. Just wondering, why me? From what I hear you barely interact with people and you hate kids.”

At this, his sensei turned serious.

“I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t owe you anything – that’s true and also includes not owing you an explanation. Since you insist on me not reading, we can practice taijutsu for now,” Gorou sighed and ditched the book, motioning for Naruto to get off the water.

“Since I, frankly, can’t be bothered trying to teach you a new style in such a limited amount of time, we’re going to focus on you anticipating attacks, sensing presence and dodging. Basically, you’re going to try to defend against me as best as you can for as long as you can, starting now.”

 _Just what did I do to deserve this_ , Naruto cried a little internally. He shouldn’t have badgered his sensei with so many questions, of course, because now Gorou was grumpy again and ready to give Naruto a beating down of the century. Good thing Uzumaki healed quickly….


	5. Team 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may have neglected to mention, this hasn't been beta read or anything so if you find an absolutely massive mistake, I would appreciate a comment about it :)

The time until the exam flew past faster than Naruto could say “Dattebayo”. His sensei made him rest up well overnight and now he was waiting for the exam to begin at the Academy. The room was filling up with his classmates quickly, but Naruto didn’t feel like talking to any of them much. It was apparent that many of them hadn’t bothered to train over the last month – it made him angry at them for not taking the life of a ninja seriously. Still, he knew he used to be like that as well – just a year and half ago he would have taken a month to prank the hell out of some shopkeepers or something. But now, he couldn’t wait to get on a Genin team and start training and go on missions.

Just before 9 am, Shino finally showed up. Naruto was a bit taken aback – his friend looked… different. Stronger. He had changed his outfit, now wearing even more layers and googles over his eyes instead of his old sunglasses. There was a new air of confidence about him that wasn’t there before and Naruto couldn’t help but feel a little amazed by the changes his friend had undergone over the last month.

That being said, he himself had changed since their last meeting, too. He just didn’t think about it, really. His hair was longer now and instead of his usual, dark jumpsuit he had grown used to wearing he was now outfitted in a style very similar to his sensei’s old ANBU uniform – with the chest and back armor replaced with a dark blue vest in similar shape, but with a few pockets. It was a little reminiscent of the Second Hokage’s style of dress, too, had anyone in the current generation of shinobi known that. He wore it partially because Gorou bullied him into it but also because it was a lot easier to move around in than the baggy jumpsuit which made a lot of noise when he ran or jumped. His outfit however still had a large orange Uzumaki swirl sewn onto the side of both his arms, something on which Naruto had stubbornly insisted. There was also a space to add a sword sheath on the back of his vest, but his sensei had forbidden him to so much as attempt kenjutsu without getting his taijutsu and shurikenjutsu up to scratch, first, so it remained empty.

One could say he looked a lot more mature now – for a fourteen year old, that is. He still had a grin on his face, but now it was more natural than his old please-notice-me-someone ear-splitting grin which he used to direct at anyone and everyone.

“Uzumaki-san,” Shino greeted him and Naruto was about to reply, when the Fifth Hokage burst into the room, followed by a distressed Iruka, just like a month ago. Tsunade had a very impatient and no-nonsense air about her this morning and she immediately went for the list of names on the teacher’s desk.

“We’ll start with the written test, I suppose. You have one hour to complete as many questions as you can, then we’ll move onto genjutsu, then everything else. Get started!” Tsunade barked out and everyone scurried to their seats quickly. Iruka rushed to hand out the tests and immediately, the scratching of pens filled the room. Naruto wasn’t too surprised the test was a lot more focused on chakra theory and the shinobi code of conduct than history or ninjutsu, knowing how Tsunade operated. He didn’t have any problem with either – chakra control and by extension, theory was something Gorou-sensei had drilled into him very early on and now he was very thankful for it. He knew the shinobi code fairly well, that was one of the things he actually found interesting in Iruka’s classes – how Konoha placed teamwork first, rather than individual skill and how each shinobi had a responsibility to protect the civilians of the village.

 He completed as many questions as he could about forty minutes in and suddenly started feeling _very_ sleepy. He had slept well the night before, but his eyelids were suddenly so heavy, just slipping shut… then he realised, it was the genjutsu test, already taking place.

“Kai,” he muttered to himself, making the snake hand seal under the desk and giving a boost to the flow of his chakra and flushing the genjutsu out of his system. Immediately, the drowsy feeling went away. He looked around and saw that quite a large number of his classmates were fast asleep, only a small number had realised what was happening.

“Alright, brats. Follow me outside and leave the rest,” Tsunade ordered and led them all to the training ground outside.

“You are going to spar against me for five minutes each. Use everything you’ve got. Akimichi, you’re up first!” she pointed at the chubby boy, who was sweating bullets nervously.

They went a little away from the group of the remaining Genin hopefuls and Tsunade announced the start of the spar.

“Baika no Jutsu!” the boy exclaimed and attacked, but everyone could see his heart wasn’t really in it. Tsunade flicked the impeding ball of flesh away with one finger and Choji was sprawled out on the ground, panting heavily. But he got up again, looking a bit more determined now. He stepped back to create a bit of distance between them and enlarged only his arm, striking at the woman several times without much success.

“Pass. Go rest up a bit before the next test,” Tsunade said in a somewhat bored voice, then called for Shino to come up next. The fight was also short, because even though Shino did manage to place some of his Kikaichu on her, she had far too much chakra to be drained in five minutes. Shino switched places with a Bug Clone a couple of times, or at least Naruto thought so and attempted a pincer attack using some technique Naruto had never seen before – a swarm of bugs enveloped the Hokage but she freed herself with a burst of chakra so large it knocked the poor bugs out and they all fell to the ground.

“You’re not half bad, kid. Pass on my compliments to Shibi on your training,” Tsunade said with a smirk and Shino bowed.

“Hai, Hokage-sama.”

After Shino, some kid Naruto didn’t really know – Arata, took five minutes to give a display of brawling worthy of an old drunk, and failed.

Next up was Sakura, whose fight was honestly, pathetic. She used kawarimi to get behind Tsunade – well, the Hokage visibly let her do it, because her handseals were really slow, then went in for a punch, which looked so weak it was painful to watch. Tsunade took the punch and didn’t even flinch.

“…Pass,” Tsunade said, but appeared very disappointed by the display.

After that, Hinata engaged the Hokage using the gentle fist and defending using some technique which used rotation to create a blue dome of chakra to protect herself. It was actually a very impressive fight for a Genin, Naruto thought and Tsunade clearly agreed because she passed Hinata before the five minutes were up.

“I-I’ve been training with my c-cousin Neji, he’s very s-strong,” Hinata told him with a small blush when she returned, replaced by Kiba in the sparring area.

“You did great, dattebayo,” he assured her with a grin.

Kiba was now feeding some strange pill to his dog, Akamaru, who then grew and turned red, before launching a joint attack at the Hokage that ended up missing and took out a nearby tree and nearly knocked Kiba himself out in the process.

“Pass. But you can’t depend on those pills, the toll on your nin-dog is too much. So you pass, but just because you have the firepower.”

“H-hai,” Kiba stuttered, getting to his feet, wobbling, noticeably dizzy and disoriented.

The next four matches were all clanless kids who Naruto didn’t bother to learn the names of, in all the years of being in the same class. They didn’t really have anything special to show, but one of them passed anyway – Kawatake, his name was.

The next turn was Shikamaru’s, who looked like he’d rather be literally anywhere else. Still, he managed to nearly corner Tsunade into his trap of shadows before giving up.

“Pass,” Tsunade said with a frown and straightened up, ready for the next match. “Uchiha! Begin!” she ordered and Sasuke immediately ran in, already forming the hand seals for a Katon Jutsu – a fairly large fireball shot at the Hokage, who dodged it expertly. He followed up with a volley of shuriken and Kunai, connected by ninja wire. Too bad Tsunade had excellent chakra control and used a chakra scalpel to chop right through it and sent the weapons flying off course.

“Pass,” she announced, then tested a girl called Udagawa, who actually knew a doton jutsu and tried to catch Tsunade off guard with it, with little success. Still, she passed.

“Uzumaki, you’re next,” Tsunade motioned for him to come forward. Immediately, Naruto knew. She was expecting something from him – she knew who he was. He had a burning desire to prove himself, but forced the feeling down and focused, in a calm state he learned to evoke in his mind, specifically for battle. 

“Begin!”

Immediately, Naruto shot backwards, while launching a flashbang scroll towards Tsunade at the same time. While it went off, he threw a few shuriken in and then replaced himself with a log nearer to Tsunade and tried a kick to her stomach, which she slapped away. In that instance, Naruto used kawarimi again and then tossed a kunai at a water pipe outside of the Academy wall. It burst, while he concentrated on moulding his chakra correctly.

“Mizudeppo!” he shouted, aiming a thin and fast stream of water towards Tsunade’s feet, splitting the ground in two with the force of it.

“Stop! That will do. You pass, kid,” Tsunade smiled approvingly. “Much as I’d love to talk now, you’re going to have to make an appointment to see me at my office, I think you know why.” Naruto grinned at her. “Also you’ll fix that pipe later and that’s an order, Uzumaki,” at this, his grin faltered and he walked off, embarrassed. He had just really wanted to use his new jutsu and got a bit carried away.

“When did Naruto get this good?” he heard Ino ask no one in particular, but he ignored the question and went to sit down next to Shino, who was silently observing the spars.

“You’ve gotten really strong, Uzumaki-san. I would like to fight you later, to test our new skills – if you are willing,” Shino said and a bubbly, happy feeling filled Naruto. He didn’t get praised often and now it happened twice in one day. Being acknowledged for his strength was a very new experience – one Naruto found thoroughly addictive.

“Sure, Shino-san,” he grinned, before sitting back to watch the last match.

Ino’s attempt ended much like Sakura’s, except she tried at the end to use her family jutsu, at which Tsunade stopped the match.

“You are to never, use this jutsu on a Konoha shinobi without my explicit permission. Is that understood?” she said angrily, before dismissing her. She passed, but Tsunade didn’t look at all happy about it.

“Kawatake, Udagawa, you’re going in the reserves for now, I don’t have an extra Jonin sensei to spare just now and you’d lack a third teammate. I was originally only going to pass three teams, but you two impressed me. The rest of you, report to Chuunin Umino for your team assignments. Dismissed.”

“Hai, Hokage-sama!” most of the new Genin cried, before going back into the building.

She stayed behind with Kawatake and Udagawa, quickly explaining what they would do from now on, but Naruto caught her eye as he left, just for a moment.

“Alright, collect your headbands from the box on my desk. I’ll read out the team assignments now.” Iruka said relatively quietly, as most of the class who didn’t pass was still sleeping under the genjutsu. Naruto was too painfully aware of how dangerous being caught in an illusion for hours and not realising it could be, seeing its consequences now. His sensei’s advice to brush up on his genjutsu was invaluable, he now knew.

“Team 7 will be Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura and… Uzumaki Naruto?” Iruka frowned at his clipboard, but then shook his shoulders and continued reading. “Your sensei is Hatake Kakashi.” He waited until they picked up their headbands and sat back down. Sakura was torn between cursing her luck for being stuck with Naruto but also being happy about being on a team with Sasuke, while Naruto was disappointed at the realisation that he wouldn’t be on a team with Shino – and his mood plummeted. Sure, he had known the possibility of it was low, but sometimes teams seemed to be picked based on who worked well together. Now he was stuck with a fangirl who barely passed and the asshole who hurt his friend.

But then he processed the name of his sensei.

Kakashi of the Sharingan was very well known in the village – he was a legend of his own. Not quite as powerful as the Sannin, but a master of all types of jutsu with a track record of a true prodigy – graduated the Academy in a single year and was made Jonin only a few years later.

Naruto was ecstatic at the prospect of learning from the man – he was a ninjutsu master, rumoured to know over a thousand techniques.

“Team 8 will be Hyuuga Hinata, Aburame Shino and Inuzuka Kiba. Your sensei is Yuuhi Kurenai,” Iruka continued and Naruto looked on as his friend went to get his headband. He wondered how Shino felt about being on a team with Hinata, who was nearly cripplingly shy most of the time and the guy who used to constantly make fun of them both for being ‘Dead Last’ and  a ‘Creepy Bug Guy’.

“The rest of you are team 10 with Sarutobi Asuma.

Naruto frowned. All their teams had _very_ well-known Jonin as their sensei. This couldn’t be a coincidence, but knowing Tsunade’s appreciation of quality over quantity, maybe it made sense. And if his sensei was Hatake Kakashi, he wasn’t going to complain.

That was until he’d been waiting for the man to show up for over an hour, filled with Sakura’s giggling and attempts at seducing Sasuke. After that, Naruto got bored of waiting and took out his book on elemental manipulation. He wanted to take his Water jutsu to the next level as soon as possible, so he was reading up on exercises used to manipulate each element. This continued for another two hours, until the door opened and a silver haired man stepped into the classroom.

“You’re Hatake Kakashi?” Naruto gaped, recognising the Jonin who helped him find out about Gorou-sensei, a month ago.

“Yo,” Kakashi eye-smiled at him then considered his new team. “My first impression is… you’re boring. Meet me on the roof in 5,” then he disappeared in a puff of smoke. Naruto didn’t quie know what to think about that.

“Hmph,” Sasuke grunted then made for the stairs, followed by a giggling Sakura. Meanwhile, Naruto sighed and put away his book carefully, then walked up the outside wall to the roof, using the tree walking exercise. It was probably his favourite chakra control method and he used it whenever he had the chance, knowing it would help maintain his sharp control over time.

When he arrived, still well before the other two, their new sensei was there, leaning back against the safety rail of the roof lazily. Naruto walked over and sat down in front of the man, on big concrete steps leading to a small garden in the back.

“Ano... thanks for helping me, that time, Hatake-sensei,” he said politely, genuinely grateful for the help.

“Don’t mention it. Oh, here they are,” Kakashi pointed at Sasuke and Sakura who walked out of the door and towards them, finally.

“How did you get here so fast?” Sakura scoffed but then turned her attention to the Uchiha again.

“Ok, let’s start with some introductions,” their sensei drawled.

“Why don’t you go first, sensei? We all know each other but you look kind of… suspicious,” Sakura replied, batting her eyelashes at Sasuke at the same time.

Kakashi sighed. “Well… you know my name.. I don’t want to tell you my likes and dislikes. My hobbies.. well, I have some.”

Naruto laughed to himself. _All he told us was his name._

“Now your turn, pinky,” he stared Sakura down. Naruto wasn’t sure why she had spoken up against their sensei so soon but well, he also didn’t really care.

“My name is Haruno Sakura. The thing.. the person I like is…” she fidgeted and looked at Sasuke. “My hobby is..” she giggled. “I hate Naruto.”

“What did I ever do to you?” Naruto scoffed, but she didn’t reply, folding her arms across her chest and sticking her nose up in the air.

“Uchiha, next,” Kakashi ignored them.

“I dislike many things and there are few things I like. My dream.. no, my ambition is to kill a certain man.”

 _Uchiha Itachi_ , Naruto and Kakashi thought in unison, while Sakura squealed.

“Fine, blondie next.”

“My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I like training and spending time with my friend, nee-san and sensei. I don’t really have a hobby and my dream is to become a Hokage as great as the Nidaime.”

Hmmm... Interesting, Kakashi thought. He was glad he had asked for Naruto to be on his team, so far.

“Alright. Now, the Godaime said we can skip the second Genin exam, but I still need to get a grasp on what your skills are, so we’re going to have a bit of light survival training tomorrow. Meet me at training ground 7 at 9 am sharp and don’t eat breakfast, you’ll just throw it up. Ja ne,” Kakashi then disappeared and Naruto frowned. The guy sure did that a lot.

“Why the hell do we need to do survival training? We did that at the Academy!” Sakura grumbled.

“He’s a Jonin, Haruno-san. It won’t be so easy, dattebayo,” Naruto said, annoyed with her uncooperative attitude already.

“What would you know, Naruto!” Sakura screeched, defensive at once. He was making her look bad in front of Sasuke-kun!

Naruto sighed. How did he ever like this girl exactly? He had the urge to say something mean back, but then remembered he was supposed to be controlling his emotions and took a deep breath to calm down.

“Whatever, I just realised… I don’t care. See ya,” he said instead and walked away, ignoring Sakura’s indignant gasp.

*

Naruto was thinking over the previous day’s events while waiting for their new sensei to arrive. The man was already an hour late and the young Uzumaki had a feeling he’d have to find something to do with all the time they’d spend waiting around in the future. He remembered Gorou-sensei saying the Genin test had over 60% failure rate. But the original test was really easy… and Kakashi had mentioned a second exam. So it made sense that before, the easy test would weed out the really weak, then a second test would fail another lot, only leaving those truly worthy of passing. But this required to split nearly everyone into teams and assign them a Jonin sensei for the second test… so Tsunade skipped that this year. She said there weren’t enough Jonin to spare, which was a bit worrying, really. Whatever Kakashi had planned for today was likely the original second exam.

He wanted to impress his new sensei and make him recognise his strength. Kakashi definitely had many things to teach them, but at this rate he’d just spend the whole time bickering with Sakura. She was nearly impossible to ignore even when she wasn’t specifically talking to him.

Naruto could hear her now complaining about how hungry she was because she had not only skipped breakfast on Kakashi’s orders but also dinner the previous night because of her ‘diet’. The blond couldn’t comprehend how dumb she had to be to be on a diet while in active duty as a ninja – the body simply needed a lot of calories to burn through each day while training. His own diet wasn’t perhaps the best – he still ate quite a bit of ramen, because it was simply the best food on earth. Still, he managed to eat more healthy meals since Shino, Mizuho and Gorou sensei all hounded him about it for months, saying he’d stay short forever if he didn’t have a slightly more balanced diet.

When Kakashi finally showed up, Sakura looked like she was going to pass out.

“Yo,” he said and then put an alarm clock down on a large boulder.

“This is set to 12 o’clock. The rules are simple: get these two bells from me in the remaining time. You can try whatever method you want. We start…now.” He took out the little orange book Naruto had seen him reading before and seemed to have his guard down, but the blond had seen that particular trick from Gorou-sensei before.

Instead of attacking, the three of them went into hiding at once. And that was probably their first mistake, Naruto realised. They had no way of forming a strategy now that they had split up. His best bet was probably to wait for one of them to go after Kakashi then try to use them as a distraction for his own attack.

 _They don’t seem to be coming out… Hmm, I thought Naruto would be the first to attack_ , their sensei thought, observing each of their hiding spots from a distance. Might as well go on the offensive then. Kakashi made his way over to Sakura, who was attempting to look for Sasuke and trapped her in a genjutsu. Sasuke and Naruto both heard her scream and then… nothing.

Kakashi went back to his original spot and settled down with his book.

Eventually, Sasuke emerged from the trees, looking eager for a fight.

“I’m not like the others,” he said with a smirk, at which Kakashi eye-smiled.

“Let’s see about that.”

Sasuke attempted to use the Gokakyuu Fire jutsu, but Kakashi was far too fast for the slow fireball to catch him. Within just a few seconds, the young Uchiha was buried neck deep in the ground.

“Sakura, now!” Naruto shouted and the two shot out from behind the trees. Sakura shot towards Sasuke and began to pull him out of the ground.

“I don’t need your help!” Sasuke scoffed but they both ignored him.

“We’re getting those bells, Kakashi-sensei!” Naruto yelled while launching kunai at their teacher. Before they hit, another Naruto appeared from behind the man and made a grab for the bells, only missing by a tiny bit.

“Mizudeppo!” he yelled, conjuring only enough water to throw his sensei off guard for a moment before he realised the jutsu hadn’t worked as intended. But in that split second, Sasuke shot past him and grabbed the bells.

“Hmm… well I’ve seen a lot worse,” Kakashi said later, when they were sitting down with Sakura tied to a log.

“You guys have nearly no teamwork. Sakura’s skills are pathetic. Honestly, if Tsunade-sama hadn’t already passed you three, I’d fail you right now.”

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

“Naruto here has shown the most ability to work as a team, even if it was for slightly the wrong reasons,” Kakashi continued, giving the blond a knowing look. True, he only used the chance created by Sasuke and Sakura to give himself a shot at getting the bells.

“I was hoping you’d do better than that. Ninja who don’t complete their missions are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are even worse,” Kakashi said to him and Naruto fumed with anger.

“I’ll protect my teammates with my life if I have to. But I don’t like them. They treat me like dirt and I have no intention of playing nice if they keep this up, dattebayo,” he snarled, not looking at either of his _teammates._

Kakashi pinched the bridge of his nose.  

“Maa… Naruto don’t sulk. Sasuke, Sakura, I’ve seen all your skills, we can probably start with a D rank mission tomorrow and see how it goes. Be at the Hokage Tower at 9 am! Ja ne!” and he disappeared again.

Naruto grudgingly untied Sakura from the log, even though she was glaring at him the entire time. He wasn’t quite mean enough to leave her there, knowing Sasuke wouldn’t bother.

“Thanks…” Sakura grumbled and Naruto outright ignored her. He didn’t trust himself to speak right now.

*

He went to find Shino immediately after that. Team 8 apparently had already finished their training for the day so the young Aburame was at home and he came out of the front gate to meet Naruto after which they headed off to the training ground they always used at the academy.

“What’s wrong, Uzumaki-san?” Shino asked when they finally sat down under the shade of a tree.

“My team blows,” Naruto folded his arms across his chest, his fingers digging into his skin painfully. “Sasuke and Sakura just ignore me and my sensei… I was so excited to meet Hatake Kakashi, I had read about him and I really looked up to him. But now... now I don’t know why I did,” his voice wavered and he hid his face in his folded arms.

“What happened?” Shino questioned calmly, quieter than his usual voice.

“We had a test, something about teamwork. I got Sakura to help me get Sasuke and we got the stupid bells off sensei, but then he really started to get on my case about how much of a disappointment I am,” the blonde couldn’t help but sniffle. “I’m sorry, this is so childish, datrebayo. I just, I really wanted him to acknowledge me. I’ve been trying to meditate and control my emotions but they just… I’m so angry, all the time,” he was just barely holding onto his trembling voice, feeling vulnerable. He then looked up at Shino cautiously. “I have no idea what I’m doing,”

Shino looked at him for a long moment, his face inscrutable.

“Sometimes… a teacher will push the student with the most potential the hardest, because they expect even more from them than from the others,” he said eventually. “For example, my father expects far more from me than anyone else in the clan – it can be… stressful.”

Naruto knew that Shino understood and immediately felt better, his mind – clearer and calmer.

“How do you do it then? Keep everything under control, from all the emotions spilling out? I don’t want to be -,” _like this. Weak._

“I find thinking of something that keeps you calm is the key. Before she passed away… my mother taught me that. I used to always think of her whenever my father and I disagreed and I felt my control was compromised.”

The young Uzumaki was touched by the revelation. Shino rarely spoke of his emotions or family and now he showed Naruto a side of him he hadn’t seen before. It was like looking at something so pure and bright that it was blinding. It made his heart skip a beat.

“Thank you, Shino,” he gave his friend a small smile, blinking the unshed tears away.  “I really appreciate it, dattebayo. You’re the best friend ever.”

“It is… fine. If it helps you.” Shino looked uncomfortable all of a sudden so Naruto had an idea to make the both of them forget the whole situation.

“How about we finally have that spar you asked for? I need to get stronger so I can take on whatever Kakashi-sensei throws my way,” he grinned, getting in a fighting stance already. Shino, as he had expected, immediately did the same.

“Awesome,” Naruto grinned.


	6. Despair Sensei

The next day’s D-rank mission was, frankly, a disaster. Sakura didn’t want to do any physical labour, Sasuke was in a bad mood because he wanted a real mission and Kakashi just sat there, reading his stupid book. So the only one doing any real work was Naruto, who was determined to win his sensei’s favour one way or another. If he had to pretend to kiss Sasuke’s ass then so be it. Not that he had forgotten about what the bastard had done – he would never let go of that, but if he could get stronger by pretending to be friends with the two annoyances that his teammates were, he’d suffer through it.

Later on in the day, he met up with Shino and proposed they should go see Gorou-sensei for an afternoon and maybe get some advice. It turned out that Shino’s team was also in shambles, because Kiba had an ego nearly as big as Sasuke’s and was so uncoordinated it was impossible to work together, while Hinata didn’t even want to spar most of the time so she wouldn’t accidentally hurt someone. Shino seemed really unenthusiastic to work with the girl as well, which didn’t help things. Their sensei was very new and didn’t really know how to put her foot down either.

“Hey squirt. Brought a friend with you? You must be Shino, eh?” his sensei greeted them, seeming a little… drunk.

“Hello, Kashima-san, my name is Aburame Shino,” the boy introduced himself but Gorou waved him off.

“Naruto has told me a lot about you, I know who you are,” the man mused, getting himself a beer from the fridge. He seemed to be drinking alone.

“Congrats on finally graduating, by the way,” he turned to Naruto. “Wouldn’t have got half as far without my help, heh.”

“That is kinda true, dattebayo,” the blonde fidgeted. “And thanks, sensei.”

“So who’s your new teacher? Someone that’s capable enough to keep you from coming to me for help every other day, I hope.”

“Actually… it’s Hatake Kakashi. He doesn’t do anything but read his stupid book and laugh at us when we argue. Sasuke and Sakura mostly just ignore me, but it’s still annoying as hell,” Naruto complained, sitting down at the coffee table, shortly joined by Shino as well.

“Hmm.. he was my replacement in the ANBU when I stepped down as commander,” Gorou had an odd look on his face and he quickly gulped down most of his new drink. “Poor kid, ‘s been messed up ever since the war. His whole team died, then his sensei died in the Kyuubi attack too.”

“Er _… sensei,_ should you really be telling us that?” Naruto frowned, quite disturbed by the man’s behaviour. He obviously had had quite a bit to drink already and was in a much more talkative mood than usual. Naruto had a feeling that they really should leave before they learned something that would get them or his sensei in trouble. He also didn’t really want to pry into his new teachers’s life behind his back like this.

“We can come back another day, if you’d rather…” he trailed off, but Gorou waved him off.

“Not like it’s classified or anything. Well, except for the ANBU thing. You didn’t hear that from me, squirt. Kakashi was the Fourth’s student you see, along with this Uchiha kid that the whole clan hated for some reason but he was actually pretty fucking nice and some girl that was a medic-nin, she transplanted the Uchiha’s eye into Kakashi – that’s why he’s Kakashi of the Sharingan, you see?”

“If the name wasn’t self-explanatory, I did actually read up on him a bit, yeah,” the blond fidgeted more.

“Then after he was kicked out the ANBU for being unfit for duty – it happens to everyone after a few years of stabbing kids in the back – he was made Jonin sensei and he’s failed every team since. He keeps raving on about teamwork or whatever – I don’t really get it because I think that’s something teams learns over time than are immediately gifted with. Hell, I fucking hated both my teammates at first, they were such brats I could hardly stand them. Anyway…  Hatake’s going to be a tough nut to crack, squirt,” Gorou laughed a very hollow sort of laugh.

“Who’s your sensei then, Aburame?” the man then turned to Shino.

“Yuuhi Kurenai.”

“Aaah, she’s… well I don’t really know her. Just, she has a reputation – with men. She’s a fucking ice block, from what I hear. If you try to ask her out, she’ll stick you in a genjutsu for a whole day, haha. Never tried it myself, then again she’s not really my type. Now, her best friend, Anko…” he trailed off, then hiccupped.

“We should really go now, sensei,” Naruto excused them in a panic. He really didn’t want to hear this and even more than that, he wanted to spare Shino the experience. He definitely regretted coming here today, to see his teacher in such a… state, but now at least he knew what Kakashi’s deal was.

“Fine, fine, not like I invited you anyway!” Gorou barked after them as they left.

“He’s not usually... like that,” Naruto mumbled to his friend, embarrassed.

“I guessed as much from your reaction,” Shino deadpanned. “However, I must observe that his explains a lot of your behaviour lately.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“You swear on occasion, Uzumaki-san. I had never heard you do so before your month-long training with Kashima-san. Additionally, your responses have an inclination to be more sarcastic now.”

“Really? That’s kinda freaky, dattebayo.”

“It is natural to emulate the behaviour of adults you are surrounded by,” Shino merely replied.

“Yeah he’s not a very good role model, though,” Naruto cringed, remembering that his sensei was now probably drinking himself to unconsciousness, alone. “Well… he really isn’t usually like that. I didn’t know what to think about him at first, he’s always grumpy and complains about how stupid I am, but he’s a very strong ninja and he has taught me a lot... I respect him.”

“I believe you, Uzumaki-san.”

*

 “Dobe, can’t you go any faster?” Sasuke demanded from behind his giant pile of paperwork that they were delivering from one office to another for a D-Rank.

“Hai, Uchiha-sama,” Naruto replied coolly, picking up the pace. He’d been making an effort to go along with his teammate’s ridiculous antics for at least a while to see how Kakashi-sensei would respond to that.

“Don’t call me that, dobe,” Sasuke scoffed, glaring at him.

“I have a name you know. Why does no one seem to use it? Are three syllables too complicated?”

“Naruto, Sasuke, that will do,” Kakashi reprimanded them, not looking up from his book.

“Sorry, sensei,” Naruto grinned, not at all sorry.

“Why do you have to keep annoying Sasuke-kun all the time, baka?” Sakura asked him, arms folded over her chest.

“Why do _you_ have to keep annoying him all the time? It’s obvious he’ll never go out with you.” Naruto retorted.

“You’re just trying to sabotage our love so I’ll go out with you!”

“Hahaha, I’d seriously rather date Sasuke myself. At least he doesn’t have a voice that can burst a guy’s eardrums. Shut up and help with these or get lost, Haruno,” Naruto snorted and walked away from her.

She stood rooted to the spot, gaping after him.

After handing in the documents, Team 7 was ready to disband for the day.

“Aren’t we going to train or something? All the other teams are…” Naruto trailed off, all too himself, because Sasuke had walked off quickly, Sakura after him and Kakashi vanished again.

Maybe it was time for a different approach, Naruto thought. He was going to pay his other sensei another visit.

*

Gorou-san was passed out on the couch, much as Naruto and Shino had left him the previous night.

Naruto sighed and knocked on the living room door loudly, though he’d already come in the house anyway. It wasn’t a good idea to sneak up on a ninja, after all.

“Ughhh… What the fuck do you want, squirt,” the man groaned, not bothering to otherwise move at all.

“I just thought I should check up on you, sensei,” Naruto said and set the shopping he’d brought with him on the coffee table.

“I don’t need your pity, brat.”

“Actually I was just trying to have you owe me a colossal favour, for looking after my hung-over sensei, dattebayo,” Naruto replied, not too bothered by the semi-hostile attitude. The man looked completely wrung out and not at all threatening at the moment.

“Fine then. Make yourself useful and get me a coffee,” Gorou huffed and wrapped himself up in the blanket Naruto had just tossed over to him.

“On it~,” the blond set to his work, quite used to where everything was in the house by now.

“You’re such an insufferable brat,” the man whined into the arm of the couch. “Shouldn’t have come here.”

“Why not? I was actually worried,” Naruto came back through with the requested drink.

“I don’t need you to worry about me, that’s exactly why.”

“Well, it’s too late for that, dattebayo. I practically owe you my ninja headband, I’m sticking to you for good now, hehe,” Naruto grinned at his sensei’s grumpy face.

“Why exactly did I do this to myself, again?” Gorou rolled his eyes and looked away from Naruto.

“Ne.. sensei. Last night, you said that in ANBU, you had to stab kids in the back. Is it really... that bad?” the blond questioned uncertainly.

“It’s… yeah. The things you do, they never really go away, either. I’ve done bad, bad things, squirt. That’s why you don’t need to worry about me.”

“Sensei... don’t do this to yourself. You told me that ninjas lie, steal, kill and fight underhanded. You can’t blame yourself for things you had to do to keep Konoha safe. Even I get that, dattebayo.”

“Kid... it’s not that easy. You’ll know when you make your first kill. And it just never get better after that – if it does, you’ve gone too far and they’ll put you down like a dog.”

Naruto’s heart clenched with pain at seeing his sensei like this.

“That’s why you have to keep going, sensei. Thanks to you, me and all the others my age can learn in safety instead of being thrown out to fend for ourselves. Thanks to what ANBU do, the village is secure and we can sleep safely at night. And thanks to you, specifically, I can try to achieve my dream. Doesn’t any of that matter?” he pleaded, remembering all the times his sensei helped him. He remembered that ANBU apprehended Mizuki before he could give away crucial information that could have doomed the whole village. No matter how bloody and horrible the job was, it was necessary.

“For every life you’ve taken, a thousand more are safe. Everyone should be thankful for that,” he continued and passed his sensei the coffee which was now going cold.

“I’m pathetic, aren’t I? Being comforted by a fourteen year old,” he snorted. “Oh well. At least it’s a fourteen year old that isn’t completely stupid, I guess.”

“I didn’t know you had such a high opinion of me, sensei.” Naruto grinned, glad to see Gorou-san cheer up.

“Don’t let it get to your head cause this won’t be happening again,” the man replied, downing his coffee quickly. “Now, I suppose I can help you figure out what to do about your teammates if you’re still interested...”

*

“Why are you following me, Dobe?” Sasuke growled, turning around to face a grinning Naruto.

“Now, now… I wasn’t following you, just trying to find you, dattebayo. Want to spar or something? Since Kakashi-sensei clearly doesn’t care about training either of us...”

“As if you could help with my training, hmph,” Sasuke tried to turn away but Naruto put a hand on his shoulder and stopped him. Gripping it _very_ tightly.

“How about a bet then, Uchiha? You beat me, I’ll get Sakura to stop stalking you. You lose, you get Sakura to train with us,” Naruto spoke in his best monotone voice, not to let Sasuke know that he was just being baited. The young Uzumaki had no doubt he could win, knowing most of the Uchiha’s skills – he loved to flaunt them at the Academy. Not that it would be easy… but he did semi-regularly spar against a Jonin and was pretty confident in the few techniques he did have.

He could tell the moment he caught Sasuke’s interest with the offer of getting Sakura to stop stalking him, his dark eyes flashed and he nodded stiffly.

They went to a training ground immediately and after only a quick staredown, the Uchiha was on the offensive, determined to finish this quickly and win. Naruto blocked every attack efficiently – Sasuke was much better than him at taijutsu, but he had experience with defending against someone faster. He could afford to take a few hits anyway, as an Uzumaki he had amazing endurance and it wouldn’t slow him down much. Sasuke had an advantage in form and speed which he used to circle around Naruto and fire off a Gokakyuu towards him. But the size of the fireball was one of the bigger weaknesses of the jutsu – it obscured one’s vision and without the Sharingan, Sasuke couldn’t see it when the blond slid right under the technique and then kicked upwards, springing up from the ground, knocking Sasuke off his feet. Naruto then pressed his advantage and spun around, placing a kunai at the other boy’s neck.

“I win, dattebayo,” the young Uzumaki grinned a little, satisfied with his work. He knew in a drawn-out fight, he’d be at a disadvantage – Sasuke was a total dick, but he was also a prodigy and would eventually exploit the weaknesses of Naruto’s fighting style.

“Ugh,” Sasuke groaned, still laying on the ground. “Dobe… you knew you’d win, didn’t you?” he accused with a flat glare that didn’t intimidate the blond in the slightest.

“I had a strategy and you underestimated me, but yeah. I needed to win to get you on board with this anyway – we need to get stronger, with or without Kakashi’s help. Sakura, as she is, is only a liability and she won’t listen to me in a million years – but if you invited her to training and she saw how much effort you put into it… She might just find the motivation she needs to actually be a shinobi.”

“Hmph. She’ll only drag me down, I don’t want to train with her,” the raven haired boy scowled, but Naruto immediately shook his head.

“I don’t care. You lost the bet and you’ll do it. Would you rather have her actually training with us or drooling over you all day? I can tell her some very interesting information about you, dattebayo.” Now this was an obvious lie that Gorou-sensei had supplied him with, but Sasuke didn’t know that.

“Fine! But if you two slack off or interfere with my training I’m not wasting my time on it.”

“Duly noted. Just be there.”

*

On his way back home, he was pretty satisfied with the outcome of his attempt to get Sasuke to cooperate. The Uchiha didn’t have to like it, he just had to do it. Neither of them wanted to be friends, but if they had any chance at getting Kakashi to get off his ass and train them, this was it. However much he disliked both his teammates, he didn’t want them to die, which would undoubtedly happen if they went out in the field so unprepared and unwilling to cooperate. And he didn’t want to die because his teacher preferred the ‘learn by yourselves’ approach, which clearly wasn’t working. He respected Kakashi’s decision to let them form a real team on their own, but he couldn’t help but be a little disappointed. They had already wasted nearly a month that they could have used for training.

“Naruto! Naruto!” someone was calling his name.

“Tenten-san!” he turned to see the girl who used to be his best friend, now taller and more tanned, beaming at him.

“I’ve been looking for you,” she said with a smile then invited him to join her for some ramen.

“Did you want something? I mean, I’m glad to see you… but it’s been a while,” he didn’t want to sound like he was accusing her of ditching him, but she hadn’t really made the effort to stay in touch either.

“I’m sorry, Naruto.. I’ve been really busy. My sensei is an absolute training nut, he never lets us rest and we’re always on missions. But my teammate got hurt in the Chuunin Exams and we’re grounded until he heals up. So I thought, I’d see how you were doing. Congrats on graduating, heh,” she poked at his headband and he grinned. “You’ve grown up, too,” she assessed, giving him a long look up and down.

“Well, I started to take my training seriously after you left. I’ve made some new friends and… they really helped me understand that I wasn’t working hard enough to ever become Hokage.”

“That’s great, Naruto,” her smile was genuine, and he returned it.

“So how as the Chuunin Exam? Must be difficult if one of your crazy teammates got hurt,” the blond questioned, devouring his ramen – he hadn’t had a chance to stop by Ichiraku’s for a while.

“Well… for the most part it wasn’t too bad. My team is pretty well balanced, but after Lee used a forbidden technique against a pretty strong opponent and got hurt, we were disqualified. That part needs to be completed by the team as a whole and he was in no condition to continue. It was a good experience, though. I got to fight this really strong kunoichi from Suna, she totally kicked my ass. It was a nice change from all the Konoha weaklings.”

“She must have been really strong then, dattebayo. You’re no pushover yourself, Tenten-san,” Naruto observed, trying to imagine what a shinobi from Suna might be like. He had never encountered any foreigners in Konoha and had also never been out of the village.

“Yeah... she had a summoning contract and everything. Her wind jutsu totally made all my attacks useless. She got made Chuunin in the end – and I’m not really surprised, turned out she’s the Kazekage’s daughter. I didn’t stand much of a chance.”

“Don’t say that! You’re really strong, just... not against wind users...” Naruto’s encouragement fell a bit short of the emotion he tried to convey, but his friend seemed to understand.

“Well, I’m working on that. She agreed to spar with me after the exams – and whenever she’s back in Konoha next,” a small blush spread over her face. “We’re kinda dating, I think. Don’t tell anyone though,” she went from embarrassed to panicked in a second. “Is that weird? I really like her...”

“I think it’s great,” Naruto genuinely said. “She sounds like a powerful ninja and if she’s nice enough to help someone who was her opponent, she can’t be that bad. Plus, knowing your taste, she’s probably really good looking,” he grinned and Tenten flushed completely red.

“Shut up. When did you learn to talk like that, brat,” she mumbled, fumbling with her nearly-cold ramen.

“It’s a secret, dattebayo. I’m happy for you, honestly. None of the guys... or girls in Konoha are good enough for you anyway, far as I can tell, haha.”

“Yeah but it’s not like I’ll be able to see her often,” Tenten was a little sad now, but he punched her arm playfully.

“Is that really so bad? You can focus on becoming stronger while she’s away, then surprise her,” he had a brief flashback to his meeting with Shino after a month apart.

“That’s true. Not that Gai sensei would let me slack off, he’s more determined than ever to make us train now that we’ve failed the Chuunin exams. I think I’m going to die,” she rolled her eyes and they both laughed for a good few minutes.

“How is your team, then? You haven’t told me anything yet,” she changed the topic, curious to know what had happened since she had seen him last.

“I’m stuck with a fangirl, the Last Uchiha who thinks he’s better than everyone and a sensei who disappears as soon as a mission is done,” Naruto whined, ordering another three bowls of ramen to make up for lost time. “But I’m working on that. Blackmailed Sasuke into training with me and he’ll try to convince Sakura as well. If there’s anyone in the world she’ll listen to, it’s him. We can worry about our wayward sensei after that. I really respected him at first, but now I’m honestly not so sure about him. He just ditched us for like a month with no instructions to train on our own or anything.”

“I’ve heard some sensei’s prefer if you take the initiative to train by yourself first,” Tenten supplied, thoughtfully.

“That’s what my other sensei said… more or less. That’s why I’ve gone out of my way to convince the other two to train with me, if that doesn’t work though, I’ll probably just go to Tsunade-sama and complain. Speaking of which… I know you really look up to her. I recently found out we’re kind of very, very distantly related. I’m supposed to meet with her sometime soon, but I’ve been too busy with trying to figure out Kakashi-sensei’s game to go make an appointment at the Tower.”

“Oh my GOD and you’re only telling me this now!” Tenten’s eyes went wide as saucers. “Have you met her? What is she like?”

“Well, she was the one who tested us for Genin, but we didn’t really have time to speak. I’m a bit scared to go, dattebayo. She’s the Hokage, you know? And I’m just some orphan…”

“So what! If she’s like your Aunt of whatever, she won’t care. You can’t waste that opportunity and the opportunity to get me her autograph. DEFINITELY get me an autograph!” the girl squealed, her eyes full of stars.

“Uh... sure,” Naruto sweatdropped. “Not like I can just blow her off anyway, she’s the Hokage,” he rolled his eyes.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine, Naruto. Anyway I should probably go to the hospital and make sure Lee isn’t trying to train when no one is looking. It was good talking to you again, I missed you,” she hugged him after paying for her ramen and they left the stand together.

“Let’s try to meet a bit sooner than in another whole year, okay?” Naruto grinned cheekily, though really, he had missed her as well. After waving her goodbye, he decided to go and make an appointment at the Hokage Tower immediately. Unfortunately, it’d be another few days before he could see Tsunade, according to the woman at the front desk – but it was better than nothing, now he had something to look forward to.

*

Sasuke looked like he’d rather be literally anywhere but with Naruto and Sakura. But at least he had held up his part of the deal so it was progress, the blond thought.

“Light spar first? No jutsu?” he proposed and Sasuke immediately got in a stance, eager to beat the dobe that had managed to get a lucky win on him before.

This time Naruto attacked first, though going on the offensive really wasn’t his strong suit, not knowing a proper style yet. Still, constant work outs and training with Gorou-sensei had paid off and he nearly managed to land a blow on Sasuke, who immediately sprang away. The Uchiha was fast and could switch to attacking without any delay, bringing his elbow down onto Naruto’s still extended arm. Naruto moved his arm into Sasuke’s guard to avoid the blow, then knocked his elbow away, going for a punch with his left arm right after. It connected and the other boy barrelled backwards awkwardly, but quickly shot back up like a spring. He ran at Naruto, then jumped up, throwing his whole body to just slam into the blond’s chest with his knees. Naruto stood his ground, crossing his arms to block the attack and using all his strength to push Sasuke back. Sasuke was fast but Naruto was stronger and they split apart, both panting. The Uchiha was getting frustrated, the so-called Dobe was holding up against him much better than he’d want to admit. His punches were relatively easy to dodge because he had an advantage in agility and speed, but when they did connect, they _hurt._ Now Naruto was going for another flurry of attacks and Sasuke ducked, before rolling over past the blond and then trying to attack in his blind spot. He didn’t expect the Uzumaki to throw himself backwards, nearly crushing him. They both rolled on the ground before finally stopping.

“Not bad, Dobe,” Sasuke grudgingly admitted, slowly getting up. His ribs were sore and he was severely out of breath.

“Right back at you, dattebayo,” Naruto chuckled, faring quite a bit better because of his Uzumaki healing and stamina.

A little further away, Sakura was watching her crush, star-struck. He was so amazing! She was too dazzled to really realise what was going on and suddenly the spar was over.

“Haruno, want a turn against either of us?” Naruto asked in a flat tone, but he was definitely, definitely mocking her. The pink haired girl withdrew to himself a bit.

“I couldn’t… against Sasuke-kun.. kyaa!” she blushed and Uzumaki gave her an unimpressed look.

“He asked you here to train with him and you’re going to waste this chance?”

“Well…” _I’ve got to do my best for Sasuke-kun!_ _But.. he wouldn’t really fight a girl, would he?_

“Get ready then,” Naruto moved away and made space for her in the middle of the training ground. He was, admittedly, a bit excited to see how this would go. Sakura was as weak as a 5 year old and Sasuke was… not known to hold back.

 _What do I do..._ the girl internally panicked, getting in her barely-practiced Academy stance. Seeing this, the Uchiha straightened up, ready to fight. He waited for Sakura to make the first move, not expecting much from her anyway. He was quite right, because the first that came towards him was moving in nearly slow motion, he sidestepped it with ease and grabbed the extended arm, throwing Sakura to the ground. She cried out in pain, but got up a moment later, a bit more determined now.

 _He just wants me to prove my strength! This is a test of love!_ She sprang towards him to once again be intercepted easily. He simply grabbed her fist with his hand and before she knew it, her arm was bent awkwardly behind her back, causing pain to shoot up her shoulder and back. He was pressing down more forcefully still, so much that it felt like her arm was about to break, when Naruto shoved Sasuke off her.

“Are you out of your mind, dattebayo!” he nearly yelled, just barely controlling his voice. Think of something calming... he told himself, while gripping onto Sasuke’s arm tightly.

“She’s a ninja, she can take it,” the Uchiha scoffed and Naruto punched him in the face, no holding back this time.

“Yeah she’s a ninja, not a piece of meat for you to beat on!” the blonde snarled back, finally letting go.

“Let’s go, Haruno,” he hauled the shaking girl up to her feet and dragged her out of the training ground. It was a good long while before she calmed down enough to answer him at all. Behind them, Sasuke was glaring with fists clenched tight.

“You’re weak, Sakura. It’s _ugly_ ,” he spat before walking in the opposite direction of the two of them. Naruto shot him a glare back and ushered the girl further away quickly.

“Are you hurt?”

“I-I don’t think so,” she breathed in heavily, moving her arm around. “Why would Sasuke-kun do that?” she burst into tears and honestly, Naruto felt awkward and didn’t know what to do.

“It’s not the first time. He used his Fire Jutsu on Shino back in the Academy. He’s really not as great as you girls seem to think he is,” the blond explained calmly, but the memory was still fresh in his mind and now, he was even more determined to somehow get back at the Uchiha for this. “He has no consideration for other people, dattebayo.”

“I thought you just hated him because he’s popular,” Sakura sniffled, looking at him weakly. He snorted.

“Actually, most ninja have better things to do than worry about things like that. We could die on any mission, no one will care if you had perfect hair or were popular then.”

“I’ve… never thought about it like that,” the girl admitted, a bit embarrassed.

“I know. That’s why I forced Sasuke to ask you to train with us, to give you a wakeup call... he went way too far though. I’m sorry, Haruno,” he really was. He didn’t like her, but hurting a weaker teammate in a friendly spar was just cruel.

“I’m sorry too, Naruto… I got so used to making fun of you I never realised how much you’d changed. I really am sorry...” she burst into tears again and Naruto thought it was probably best to take her home.

*

He was most surprised to find his sensei sitting on the edge of his open window when he got back to his room.

“Hi, sensei,” he said with mild displeasure, knowing exactly why the man was here.

“Why do you insist on going behind my back on everything, Naruto?” Kakashi signed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Well it’s not like you’re around to train us or anything, dattebayo,” the blonde scowled.

“Maa, Naruto – I know what I’m doing. Sasuke and Sakura just needed some time to reach out to you.

“You think so? Cause that really hasn’t been coming across. In fact, you haven’t done anything at all.”

“Teamwork is the most important aspect of a shinobi squad, Naruto. I trust I’ve taught you at least this much,” Kakashi shook his head and Naruto struggled to remain calm.

“I know that! But to have good teamwork, you need to be able to trust your teammates to hold their own at times and to watch your back at others. Which is currently out of the question with Sasuke or Sakura. I reached out to them the only way I could, because they’d never listen to someone they thought was inferior to them,” the blonde argued. “I didn’t want Haruno-san to get hurt though..” he finished somewhat lamely, feeling disappointed and annoyed and angry all at once, but managing to hold onto the forced current of calmness he always reached out to in his mind at times like these.

Kakashi just looked disappointed.

“I asked for you to be on my team because I thought you could be what they needed – someone who knew the value of teamwork. Clearly I was wrong.”

“So what? I wasn’t even supposed to be on this team? That’s really fucking great to know, _sensei!_ ” Tears were now stinging in his eyes and he wanted nothing more than to just shut the world out and hide for a while. “I thought, Sasuke and Sakura hated me – I respected you, I thought… you recognised my strength.”

“Naruto, that’s not…”

“If you don’t want to train me that’s fine, dattebayo. I’ll find a sensei that wants to improve my skills rather than just use me as a crutch for kids who have no business being shinobi,” he spat out. “Goodnight, Hatake-san,” he pushed the man out of his window and slammed it shut, pulling the curtains over it.

 


	7. Team 7 (Take Two)

Was it childish? Yes.

Naruto couldn’t help but be very happy Team 7 didn’t have a mission the next day. He didn’t want to go outside or even get out of bed at all, but he had an appointment with the Hokage to attend. The trepidation didn’t really help his overall bad mood.

He was allowed into the Hokage’s office quickly and without much fuss and before he knew it, he was fidgeting awkwardly, standing in front of the intimidating woman.

“Relax, Uzumaki,” she said, staring him down with those green, piercing eyes.

“Hai, Hokage-sama,” he tried and failed to relax.

“You don’t need to call me that when you’re here as family, Naruto,” her gaze then softened and she smiled. Naruto immediately forgot all about his stupid sensei and a sort of warm feeling filled him. This woman was related to him, however distantly and the thought was more reassuring now than he’d imagined it before. He felt calm, like when he was with Shino and he let his posture relax, meeting Tsunade’s gaze with his own at last. She had kind eyes.

“Do you know why I wanted to meet you?” she questioned, setting aside the mountain of paperwork in front of her and taking out a bottle of sake and two small cups. “Don’t tell anyone,” she then grinned and passed him a drink before gulping down the remainder of the bottle herself.

“Ano… I have an idea...” Naruto trailed off, apprehensive of the drink. He’d never tried it before, but then again he was legally an adult now and could, technically, do whatever he wanted. A frightening thought, considering how terribly childish his behaviour the previous night had been.

“The Uzumaki and the Senju clans were related and closely allied, once. My own grandmother, Mito, was from your clan. I think – for the benefit of Konoha and specifically, for your benefit, that we should re-establish that alliance. We are the last two known members of each clan – I don’t want to just leave a kid like you out to dry.”

Naruto was taken aback.

“T-thank you, Hokage-sama,” he stuttered out and she sighed.

“What did I tell you? I can make it an order, if that helps, Naruto.”

“Hai, Tsunade-sama,” he fidgeted, embarrassed.

“I’ll get straight to the point, because I don’t have much time. I’d like to help you out more, but there isn’t much I can do. Being Hokage is actually pretty restricting in certain matters. However, I’m in possession of a few Uzumaki scrolls which belonged to my grandmother and I think you should have them. Honestly, for both my own satisfaction and the village’s benefit, I want you to become a powerful ninja and restart your clan, but that is a long way off yet. These scrolls will help you out for the time being, I’m sorry I can’t offer you more.”

“No, that’s really amazing, Tsunade-sama! I will be the best Uzumaki yet, dattebayo!” Naruto couldn’t help but grin and the woman nodded approvingly. Finally, Naruto sipped on the sake and found he did actually quite like it – the taste was smooth and delicate, but had a sort of hidden strength that left his taste buds tingling.

“I’ll have Shizune take you to my vault and get you the scrolls, then. You’re a good kid, Naruto. You remind me of my younger brother, Nawaki – he was clever and confident like you, and had a good heart. His dream was to be Hokage. He… died, a long time ago,” Tsunade’s eyes glossed over for a moment, but then she smiled again.

“It’s okay. I’ve had time to grieve – over thirty years, in fact. He’s in a better place now.”

Naruto didn’t know what to say to that at all, feeling a bit overwhelmed.

“My dream is to be Hokage too. As great as the Nidaime, if I can, dattebayo,” he finally settled on saying, feeling he should reveal something about himself in return.

Tsunade’s eyes widened, but then she laughed.

“He’s a great person to aspire to be like, Naruto. He was a serious but kind man. Used to look after me when my grandfather and grandmother were busy. He was generally very patient, but there were a few things that just completely set him off, like grandfather Hashirama’s gambling or ‘impolite youngsters’,” she got a faraway look on her face, remembering the days when she was a little girl and her uncle was her favourite person in the world. “He always put the village first... even though it was my grandfather’s creation, uncle Tobirama cared for each person in it as if they were his own children. If you can become a shinobi as great and kind as him, I will gladly hand my hat over to you,” she smiled and got up from her chair, then walked over to him and surprised him with a quick hug. He might have seen a little tear in her eye.

“Thank you...” he said quietly, genuinely touched by the faith she placed in him. “Aunt Tsunade,” he smiled up at her. The secretary then knocked on the door, announcing that the Hokage’s next appointment was waiting.

Though they weren’t related at all closely, he felt a strange kinship with Tsunade. He knew they’d never be like a real family, spending time together, but this… wasn’t bad.  “I’ll visit again soon, dattebayo!” he yelled cheerfully on his way out the door. He heard her chuckle a little as he closed it behind him.

Tsunade was glad she had reached out to the boy, despite her initial apprehension. After losing Nawaki and Dan, she just knew she would never have her own family, but here was this boy, an orphan who was a little ray of sunshine so much like her little brother, and sharing both his and Dan’s dream of being Hokage. She just couldn’t help but want to help him, even though there was little she could do. There was a small thought telling her she could adopt him, but being a Hokage and already over fifty years old... it just didn’t seem like it would work. Plus the kid was almost an adult himself, in fact already one in the eyes of the law, even though he still had baby fat on his face. But she had already decided, when she sparred against him at the Academy, that she would make sure he’d become a great ninja.

*

Only after he left, Naruto remembered that in his excitement about finding a sort-of family and then going with Shizune-san to get the Uzumaki scrolls, that he had forgotten to ask if Tsunade had known his parents. But since she hadn’t brought it up, she probably didn’t know. It wasn’t good to get his hopes up anyway. Upon getting back home, he inspected the clan scrolls, only to find that he couldn’t open them. There was a bunch of squiggly lines drawn along the edges of the paper and it just wouldn’t open. Naruto tried everything he could to open them, without any success. With a sigh, he finally gave up – he’d need fuuinjutsu knowledge to unseal these and it wasn’t like you could just go and pick up a book on the subject at the library. It was a dead end for now, much as it frustrated him to admit.

*

He was most surprised when he received a summons to meet with Team 7, a small note brought to him by a bored looking nin-dog who then vanished in a puff of smoke. Apprehensive as he was, Naruto couldn’t exactly ignore an order from a superior, so he quickly put on his arm protectors and strapped the kunai pouch to his leg before quickly making his way over to their usual training ground.

Amazingly, Kakashi was already there as well as Sakura, who was looking more subdued than usual and a little bit twitchy.

“Naruto, come with me,” their sensei walked with him a little while away from the girl. The blond’s hands clenched tightly and he anticipated a reprimand for his actions.

“I’m sorry,” Kakashi then said, surprising him. Blue eyes looked up at the man cautiously, Naruto wasn’t really sure what to think. “I asked for you to be on my team because I thought you would be like my old friend and teammate, Uchiha Obito. He was a bit of an airhead but he was a good shinobi and he valued nothing more than his friends. I thought, with you here things would wall into place like they once did for my team under Minato-sensei, but when you turned out to be not at all like Obito, I didn’t know what to do – and I shut out the glaring problems with Sasuke and Sakura, not wanting to acknowledge my mistake.”

“…” Naruto was a bit sceptical and he really didn’t want to be on the receiving end of another self-pitying rant of someone he respected. Gorou-sensei was one thing, but Kakashi-sensei…

“But, I never doubted your skills. I knew who your teacher was and I had later looked up your exam results, you did extremely well against Tsunade-sama. As your sensei, I will do everything in my power to make you strong.” The silver haired jonin seemed determined and Naruto accepted that. Everyone made mistakes, adults sometimes more often so.

“I’ll hold you to that promise, dattebayo!” the blond grinned and received an eye-smile in return. Just then, Sasuke arrived and they went back to Sakura, who was giving the raven haired boy nervous looks. Naruto was worried about the effects his actions had brought upon the girl, but he didn’t know what he could do to fix the situation.

“Yo, my cute little genin,” Kakashi greeted them all again. Everyone was secretly amazed the little orange book hadn’t made an appearance yet. “I think we’ve had enough time to get you three settled in…now, we’ve got a lot of training to catch up on,” he straightened up and Naruto at once recognised the ANBU-trained air that Gorou-sensei also had about him.

“Naruto, Sakura, ten laps around the village. Sasuke, come here,” Kakashi ordered and since there was no sense in whining or arguing, Naruto immediately set out, followed by Sakura who still seemed to be hesitating.

“Sasuke. I will only say this once – you deliberately hurt either Sakura or Naruto again and I will have you charged with assault of a shinobi of Konoha. Is that clear?”

“Hmph,” the young Uchiha grunted and Kakashi narrowed his eyes at him, leaking out a small dose of killing intent.

“Hai, sensei,” Sasuke finally said, struggling under the pressure, unable to breathe properly.

“Good,” Kakashi eye-smiled. “Twenty laps, off you go,” he waved the boy off. He was tempted to take Icha Icha Paradise back out and read, but he had other things to do. Each of his three genin had glaring weaknesses – one didn’t have any strengths to compensate for it – and they’d need all the training they could get. He’d need to work out what type of training to put his team through to get the best results in a short period of time. They had already done quite a few D-ranks and maybe, it was time to think of going outside of the village to gain some experience – but they definitely weren’t ready for that. Thankfully, they had one of the strongest ninja in the village to train them – though, he realised, he was horribly out of practice himself, having been a jonin-sensei for several years and not taking many missions. That’d be another glaring issue to fix, if he was to protect his team to the best of his ability. Sharingan Kakashi was getting his strength back, at last.

*

Over the next month, they trained rigorously in teamwork exercises and basic speed, strength and endurance. Kakashi seemed to get more sadistic as each day went by, but the three of them thrived under the pressure to succeed. Even Sakura, who had finally gotten out of the shock of nearly having an arm broken by the boy she had idolised. She had thrown every feeling of anger and confusion and self-pity into studying and training, quickly absorbing frankly terrifying amounts of knowledge. Naruto noticed she had nearly perfect recall, being able to recite most of a book after reading it once – and she immediately took advantage of it to research any fighting styles and techniques that might give her an edge as a ninja. Kenjutsu, genjutsu or medical ninjutsu seemed the most likely candidates, being the most accessible in Konoha, over things like puppetry or Fuuinjutsu. Still, with how much training they were doing she didn’t have the time to read as much as she’d like.

Meanwhile, Sasuke was actually working alongside them more or less without any gloating or derogatory remarks. That being said, he seemed even more withdrawn and apprehensive than usual, but since he didn’t say anything or argue, the other two didn’t bother him either, merely content to cooperate just enough to keep their sensei happy.

After the first month, when Kakashi was finally more or less satisfied with the level of their basic physical conditioning, he finally, finally began their individual training. Not instead of the team exercises – but after they completed those. Each day, the three of them were absolutely shattered, barely having enough strength to walk themselves home.

Naruto could barely tell the days apart anymore – everything was a hazy blur of training. He didn’t even have time to meet with Shino, or even his sensei or Mizuho-nee-san or Tenten. He missed his best friend and the calm atmosphere around him, the times they’d spend just reading together only interrupted by Naruto’s exclamations of hatred for said activity.

Still, he was definitely getting stronger. Kakashi took full advantage of his fast healing and stamina to train him viciously, focusing on Naruto’s raw strength and trying to improve his taijutsu. It wasn’t so much a style he was learning, but merely how to slam an enemy down with all his strength. Kakashi insisted that he needed to have better reaction times for this to really work without him getting severely hurt in the process, since he’d be considerably easy to pin down for a faster opponent like Sasuke. The theory was that, he should be able to see any attack coming and to redirect it while striking back at the same time. According to Kakashi, that was more or less how their new Hokage fought, which cheered Naruto up a bit. Still, his idol was the Nidaime, who was a master of speed and teleportation so he secretly used all his already scarce free time for speed training, determined to surpass even Sasuke eventually.

He didn’t really know what Sasuke and Sakura trained in, but from the look of it, the girl was increasing her already amazing chakra control (something Naruto was secretly jealous of because it took him months and months to get to a similar level) and practicing dodging. This was essential for either medic-nins or genjutsu specialists who needed to avoid damage for as long as possible and support their teammates, so for Sakura, it was perfect. Meanwhile, Sasuke was training to increase the speed of his fire jutsu and learning basic chakra control. This didn’t really seem like much, but after a while Naruto realised that, no matter how much he might hate the guy, Sasuke was a prodigy and could definitely use just those things to considerably increase his fighting skills. From what he knew of the Uchiha Interceptor style, it relied heavily on the Sharingan, so it’s not like he could train in it until he unlocked it anyway.

D-rank missions went from being a chore to a welcome reprieve from the hellish training and before they knew it, Team 7 had racked up a score of over 20 of those in just three months since they graduated. Their sensei gathered them round and gave each one a serious once-over.

“I think you guys are ready for a C-rank. There shouldn’t be any shinobi combat, but it’ll be good experience for you,” he scratched his forehead. “We could also get started on some elemental training, soon…” he trailed off and all thee of his genin nodded excitedly. “Mou… if you insist then,” he eye-smiled and went to pick a mission for them. The Godaime looked quite satisfied with Team 7 when they stood straight and proud in front of her, like a real shinobi squad.

“I have a mission here... I was originally going to give it to Team 8, but they’re still on their previous assignment in Wave, so you can have it. One of our shinobi is hiding out as a civilian in Takigakure. The village is poor and has few medical supplies – you will deliver this medicine to him and make sure he is fit to travel. There shouldn’t really be any trouble, but I’d advise you all to be careful.” Tsunade said, giving Naruto a sort of strange, calculating look.

“Hai, Hokage-sama!” the three of them intoned as drilled through and through by Kakashi, before being dismissed.

They were to set out the next morning, so each of them took the opportunity to rest up from their crazy training. Before they left the village gates for their mission, Kakashi made them gather around him.

“Right. Elemental manipulation… you’ll have to learn a basic exercise for your element, first. Sasuke, you’ll be trying to light… this stick on fire,” he picked up a random dry branch off the ground and split it so only a small piece was left. He then picked up a sort of medium sized rock. “Sakura, you’ll need to try to grind this to dust with your chakra. Last, Naruto..”

The blond took a bunch of leaves out of his vest pocked. “Try to draw the water from the leaf? I’ve kinda started on it a bit already, dattebayo,” he grinned and set to work on it immediately. By a bit, he meant he had been working on it pretty much since Team 7 formed.

They walked on for several hours, each Genin focusing on their own task, until it was beginning to get dark and Kakashi stopped them.

“Can’t we keep going? It’ll be good training,” Naruto asked but Kakashi shook his head.

“We will, but first I need to tell you about our second mission,” the man said seriously and showed them a small, inconspicuous scroll. “This was given to me by an ANBU directly under the Godaime’s command. She wants us to investigate Takigakure’s missing Jinchuuriki while we’re there. She seems to trust you three enough with such an important task, so make sure we don’t fail,” he gave them all a level stare, conveying to them the severity of the situation.

“What’s a Jinchuuriki?” Sasuke asked, for once being the one to speak up first.

“Someone with a Bijuu like the Nine-Tails sealed inside them,” Naruto supplied, surprising the other two Genin. “Suna’s host containing the Ichibi went missing several months ago as well, this can’t be coincidence,” he said thoughtfully and Kakashi agreed.

“We’ll have to be very careful. If someone strong enough to pick off Jinchuuriki is around, we can’t give ourselves away. After we cross the border, all headbands and ninja gear are off or concealed and we’re travelling at civilian speed. This is an A-rank mission and you will follow my every command without a question. I say you should leave me and run, you run. If I say you are to kill a witness, you do it without hesitation. Is that understood?”

“Hai, sensei!” the three of them replied nervously, Sakura and Naruto gave each other a slightly worried glance.

“I said it’s an A rank, but the odds of us encountering Shinobi in this country are still fairly low. The ninja population here is quite small, especially when compared to say, Konoha, but due to the negligible value of this country’s resources, no one else has bothered trying to attack them in years. However, we’ll be there without an invitation and they won’t take kindly to Konoha meddling in their business, so we’ll have to pass as civilians. I’m sure you three will do fine, you’re my cute little students after all,” Kakashi eye-smiled and the thee of them shuddered.

“Ne, sensei? If someone asks what we’re doing there, what should we say?” Sakura questioned.

“Hmm... you can be my three kids. I’ve had to skip country because of my angry ex-wives,” Kakashi laughed his lazy, creepy laugh.

“That’s a terrible excuse if I ever heard one, dattebayo,” Naruto deadpanned.

“Maa... Sometimes it’s better to go with something a bit unusual. If you look too plain, they’ll be even more suspicious.”

“I suppose that makes sense... In a really twisted sort of way,” Sakura frowned, but agreed to use this cover story.

Thankfully, after arriving in Taki, they decided to check up on the shinobi they were supposed to recover, so they didn’t have to talk to anyone using Kakashi-sensei’s terrible excuses. The man, as far as they knew, was staying with a civilian family who was kind enough to take him in. Their house was bare and unimpressive, but at least well maintained. They let them in without much fuss, Kakashi pretended to be the other shinobi’s brother and before long, they were alone in the room where the man – Yoshihisa – was resting.

“They sent a genin team here? Kami-sama,” the man, a pretty non-descript Chuunin, whispered weakly. “Don’t you know what’s going on?”

“We can talk later. Let me see your wounds, I have some medical training,” Kakashi interrupted him and without further ado, sliced open the bandage around Yoshihisa’s shoulder. There was a large stab wound there and from the looks of it, it was beginning to get infected. Sakura looked on in a sort of morbid fascination as Kakashi used medical chakra to fix what damage he could, before putting Tsunade-sama’s ointment on it and giving some pills to the man to swallow.

“You should be good to move in two or three days, hopefully. I’m sorry but we can’t accompany you back.”

“That’s fine, I just want to get out of here. You guys really don’t know what’s going on?” Yoshihisa frowned worriedly at the three Genin who shook their heads. Kakashi just looked annoyed.

“Report, then,” he said and Yoshihisa explained about how his whole squad had been surrounded by some sort of white, humanoid creatures that could take on any person’s appearance. They had managed to drive them off but his other two team-mates were killed and he had been injured quite badly.

“I’ve never heard of anything quite like that. Was it an enemy jutsu?” the Copy Ninja questioned thoughtfully.

“I don’t think so, they seemed to just move on their own. Though I suppose they could have been controlled remotely... but it’d have to be quite some distance, my team-mate was a branch Hyuuga and his Byakugan hadn’t picked up anything odd other than that all of them had a matching chakra signature.”

“Hmm… this just got a lot more dangerous,” Kakashi quickly went through a bunch of complicated hand-seals, then bit his thumb and slammed a summoning seal onto the ground. A pack of nin-dogs of various shapes and sizes appeared, surprising the wounded Chuunin.

“Pakkun, take a request for backup to Konoha. I think we might run into some trouble here. Bull, protect Yoshihisa-san until he crosses the border. The rest of you, scout the area for anything suspicious, then return to me. Scatter!”

The dogs immediately did as instructed and the thee Genin were left awed at the quick response to the situation their sensei had displayed.

“You three, try to talk to some of the civilians around over the next few days, but don’t go too far. We need to get the info we’re here for and get out, this country’s security isn’t that good, if a large number of hostiles could sneak in and eliminate a squad of chuunin, then I doubt Taki’s forces can keep them from doing it again.”

“You’re _staying_?” Yoshihisa gaped but was silenced with a look from Kakashi, who clearly didn’t feel like sharing the details of a top-secret mission with some Chuunin he didn’t know.

“Get yourself back to Konoha as soon as you’re able to move. Take one of the soldier pills in that package, if you have to,” the Copy Ninja instructed him after which, they left.

The night was spent at the first hotel they could find, where Kakashi and Sakura shared a room, leaving Naruto and Sasuke together. They ignored each other until the next morning, when the three Genin in disguise set out to make friends with some of the local kids, without much success. They didn’t seem to like outsiders much, especially ‘freaks with whiskers and pink hair’ as they called Naruto and Sakura. Still, they managed to learn something. Some girl called Fuu, that also was a freak nobody liked, hadn’t been seen around in a while. That was as good a lead to investigate as any. They reported to Kakashi-sensei at once.

“Hmm… I found something out as well. There’s apparently been a big battle not too far off the village. We should investigate once Yoshihisa-san leaves. I don’t think it’s safe to leave him alone here.”

“Hai, sensei.”

The Chuunin seemed eager enough to get the hell out of the country, so he set out the next morning, wincing in pain every other step, but assuring them he’d be fine. Immediately, Kakashi set Naruto and Sasuke to the task of blending in with the civilians to try and get any more information, while he and Sakura went to investigate. She was very observant when she wasn’t being distracted by the Uchiha (whom she still seemed to have a hesitant crush on, despite everything) so Kakashi had taken to teaching her how to find things which don’t immediately stand out in a place or a situation – a skill invaluable when disguising an illusion within someone’s mind. The more realistic it was, the more difficult it would be to unravel.

*

Naruto and Sasuke, against their personal wishes, stuck together. Everyone in the village seemed to be on edge, somehow and being out on your own with possible hostiles around just didn’t sound so smart. They were going past a pub, when they heard someone imitating battle noises within. Thinking it at least worth a look, Sasuke agreed to sneak in through the back and conceal himself while Naruto kept watch outside.

“So there was this strange dude, half white half black, head to toe, face an’ all, surrounded by these weak looking white monsters, commanding them. The little freak tried to fly away with her freaky wings, but they caught her. I felt somethin’ then, like I never had before, like I was gonna die, man! I swear, it was terrifying. I knew that little freak was a monster but then she actually transformed and I was gonna shit my pants, right? But the black guy just swatted her attacks away like it was nothin’ and then he takes her and disappears! Crazy, innit?”

Sasuke had heard enough and after getting Naruto, they returned to mull the information over in the relative safety of their hotel room. Kakashi and Sakura were there too, looking concerned.

“Did you find anything, sensei?” Naruto asked, making sure there was no one outside the door to eavesdrop.

“Quite a bit, in fact. There was obviously a large battle there, the whole area is burned with chakra. It had to be a bijuu,” Kakashi said, chin resting in his hand thoughtfully.

“Sasuke found something out as well. Someone supposedly saw the battle and they said that a man half black and half white right down the middle took the girl. Looks like someone is seriously collecting the Jinchuuriki, dattebayo,” Naruto told their sensei and Sakura.

“Sensei, does Konoha have one?” the girl asked after a moment, concern written clearly all over her face. Kakashi shook his head.

“The Yondaime managed to defeat the Kyuubi by sealing half its chakra in a special scroll, half of it within himself using a jutsu that costs the user’s life. I think you can definitely know this now, the scroll was what the traitor Mizuki nearly stole on the day of your first exam. The third knew he couldn’t keep the Fox’s chakra safe, so he appointed Tsunade to replace him.”

Naruto gasped in realisation.

“I knew something was up! It just didn’t make sense that he’d suddenly retire. But... dattebayo, that means they’ll probably be coming for Konoha again at some point!”

“You’re probably right, Naruto,” Kakashi agreed gravelly, shoulders tense and his whole being on guard. “And if they’ve already got the Ichibi and the Nanabi…  We need to get this information to the Godaime. There is no sense in sticking around here any longer. We leave at once.”

“You’re leaving so soon?” “ **I think not**.” Two voices spoke at once and a bizarre creature, nearly half-plant, half man, with black and white halves spoke, emerging head-first from the wall.

“Get out of the village! We’ve got reinforcements coming, I’ll hold him off! Go, now!” Kakashi ordered and after only a split second, the three Genin shot out the window of the room and made a run for the village gates.

“Why don’t we play a game?” “ **You will not be leaving alive,”** the two voices, one low and one high spoke again and the creature emerged fully and suddenly thick vines shot towards Kakashi.

Having already uncovered his Sharingan, the Copy Ninja dodged the attack with lighting speed, already gathering lighting chakra in his hand. There was no time to be messing around, his students were most likely in danger too.

“Raikiri!” he thrust forward, stabbing right through the wood vines and the creature’s chest. Not feeling safe yet, Kakashi was about to withdraw his hand, but then the flesh around it seemed to expand and then contract, gripping it so tightly he felt the bones in it break. Now he wouldn’t be able to use hand-seals. Firing another, weaker Raikiri on the spot, he managed to free himself, but the cost on his chakra was significant. He couldn’t keep this up, against the strange Mokuton wielding plant man of unknown origin. This wasn’t like anything he’d ever fought before, but Kakashi wasn’t an elite of the elite for nothing. Using his left hand to throw out an explosive note, he created some distance between himself and his opponent by going out of the door quickly and then whistled. Before the smoke cleared, his nin-dogs, minus Pakkun and Bull collected in front of him.

“Hold him down for me if you get a chance,” he panted and the pack barked back its’ agreement, launching into attack formation at once. Vines and smoke shot out of the suddenly breached wall, but his dogs dodged them, advancing on the creature. Kakashi took out a kunai with his working hand and channelled lighting chakra through it, before throwing it into the fray. He heard an impact and the vines fell limp onto the scorched and crumbling floor.

“Now!” he commanded his dogs and they gripped onto each of the plan-man’s limbs.

“Just one more...” Kakashi thought, gathering chakra in his left hand this time. His vision was beginning to go blurry, from the continued use of the Sharingan, lightning chakra and the Raikiri. He jumped forward, stabbing the creature once more. It finally stilled and crumpled to the floor lifelessly. The Copy Ninja let out a shaking breath and checked for a pulse. There was nothing, so he covered his Sharingan and turned away, to find his students as fast as possible. If only he had stayed, he would have seen the strange man split in two, the dead white half collapsing in on itself. The black half then devoured it, to every last hair, before beginning to rise up again. Another white creature appeared out of the wall, then another and another. One approached the black half and they merged together, their flesh fusing and transforming anew.

*

Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke were stopped in their tracks by three strange white creatures. Immediately getting in their fighting stances, the Genin were trying their best to keep calm in their first real fight. These were the enemies that had taken down a squad of Chuunin. Sakura’s knees were shaking, but she straightened up, a determined expression on her face.

The three white figures moved towards them, their movements fluid. Naruto breathed in, trying to steady himself, not to rush in, when Sasuke made the choice for him and shot forward, attacking the closest creature with several kunai, which it dodged and extended it’s arm, getting a hold of the Uchiha’s sleeve. Before Naruto could process what was happening, an exact copy of Sasuke stood before them and formed the handseals for Gokakyuu no Jutsu. The three Genin dodged frantically, barely escaping the blazing fireball.

“Don’t let them touch you,” Sasuke grunted, getting to his feet in a defensive stance in front of his cone.

“No shit,” Naruto snorted, jumping up like a spring, just out of the reach of another one of the strange white creatures. Beside him, Sakura almost got caught but managed to chop off her assailant’s arm with a decisive slash of her kunai. Panting heavily, she fell to the ground, her breath shaky and quick.

Naruto needed to create distance between himself and the strange creature, but the only jutsu that might have been useful there that he knew required a water source. If only he could conjure enough water from the air… but that wasn’t an option now. Instead, he tossed half of all the kunai he had in quick progression, just to keep the creatures away. Sasuke was engaged in a taijutsu battle with his doppelganger, not paying much attention to his teammates.

“L-looks like it has all the same abilities as Sasuke-kun!” Sakura exclaimed still somewhat shaken, but more attentive now. Kakashi’s hellish training had paid off after all.

“So… they copy you by touch? We can’t let them get to us. Sakura, do you know any jutsu?” Naruto tried to think frantically, but with the blood pumping loudly in his ears and trying to watch their enemies’ movements, he couldn’t quite concentrate. Calm down, he told himself, but it didn’t really work. Sakura threw a few of her own shuriken in, protecting Naruto just in time.

“We need to take down the Sasuke-clone! Then he can help us with the other two,” the blond said, back to back with Sakura now, both on the defensive. The white creatures were now recovering from their attack and were about to run towards them again.

“Kawarimi with Sasuke,” Sakura told him then, her eyes suddenly bright with determination.

“Are you out of your MIND? That’ll never work, 'tebayo!” Naruto panicked, pushing her sideways to avoid one of the creature’s arm that had shot towards them. “It’s really not that sort of jutsu!”

“Just DO It,” the girl commanded, throwing the rock she’d been using for elemental training into one of the white creature’s face. Naruto didn’t have any better ideas, so he formed the handseals as quickly as he could, praying to Kami this would work. Exercising every ounce of chakra control he had, he pushed himself forward with it and suddenly, he was grappling with Sasuke’s clone. In a panicked desperation, he stabbed a kunai right into it’s throat, but surprisingly no blood came out. It gave a mangled sort of scream and fell onto the ground. Panting and disoriented, Naruto twisted around to see Sakura and Sasuke jumping even further away from him to avoid the creatures. If they let another one transform, it would complicate things further.

“Sasuke! Use Gokakyuu!” he yelled and amazingly, Sasuke obliged at once, even though the distance between him and their enemies was quite noticeable and the fireball moved relatively slow. At the same time, Naruto tossed the only two explosive notes he had towards the two creatures from behind.

“Get down!” he shouted, but before he even finished the words, the fireball and two exploding tags collided, creating a giant fiery blast. When the dust and smoke settled, Naruto saw his teammates get up, covered in soot but generally okay.

“Are you guys hurt?” he asked, limping towards them. His leg was bleeding quite a bit, something must have hit him from the explosion. It hurt like fuck, but he didn’t think it was broken, which was something at least.

“Yeah, Sas-Sasuke-kun protected me,” Sakura said shakily, looking nervously to the raven haired boy. Sasuke had a sort of… conflicted expression on his face.

“I’m sorry about before, Sakura. I didn’t mean to… ever since Itachi, my mind, it’s not right,” he finally said after a moment, looking like he’s been tortured to get the words out. “Dobe, you’re bleeding,” he then pointed out in an attempt to divert their attention.

“And your eyes are red,” Naruto grinned, making Sasuke blink. His Sharingan had activated during his fight against his own clone, it had been really close to killing him, if Naruto hadn’t stepped in... he’d never get his chance to demand answers from Itachi. He shuddered.

“We need to bind it quickly,” the basics Kakashi taught Sakura about medic-nin training kicked in and she ripped a stip off the bottom of her dress without hesitation and wrapped it around Naruto’s leg tightly.

“Naruto! Sakura! We need to move,” their sensei appeared, his broken hand hanging limply at his side. “It’s not safe here, there could be more of them,” but before they could so much as orientate themselves, another five of the white creatures emerged from the ground, together with the black and white one Kakashi was sure he had killed.

“Damn,” he spat out, uncovering his Sharingan again. His chakra was running dangerously low, but he couldn’t afford to pass out now. There was an S-rank enemy in front of him, another five of unknown strength and one of his students was injured. He hadn’t been in a pinch like this since his days in the ANBU and then, he knew each person on his team was capable of fighting high level shinobi on their own. These kids were chuunin level at best, probably, but this was completely out of their depth. There wasn’t much he could do but bet everything on one more Raikiri to at least take out the strange plant-man and let his students escape.

“Sasuke, set up four kunai around them if you can. Naruto, Sakura, when I give the signal, trap him,” Kakashi never once took his eyes off the enemy. His two students exchanged a bewildered look, but he sensed that Sakura got the hint. “I’ll keep him busy for a bit. Don’t let your guard down or you will die.” With that, he jumped in at his top speed, slashing at the protective vines around the creature with his chakra-enhanced kunai. It was enough to not die just yet, but he doubted this was the only technique it could use. After dodging an endless barrage of vines, he finally had a clear shot, but then the creature formed a hand seal and the ground under Kakashi split apart. He couldn’t stall for any longer. He jumped away, but one of the vines caught his leg and slammed him back down into the ground. It looked like his students had made their preparatons – four kunai in a square around him and the enemy and an open water containing scroll next to Naruto.

“Do it now!” their sensei shouted, struggling against the vice grip on his leg. “There’s no time!”

“But sensei!” Sakura screamed, eyes quickly filling up with tears. But Sasuke didn’t hesitate, seeing the five white creatures were using the lull in battle to go after the three of them again.

“Lightning Prison!” he yelled and unleashed a current of Lightning chakra which arched between the four kunai, trapping the white creatures in place. After a second it stopped, but they were left stunned, scattered between the black and white plant man and the three Genin. Being used to lightning chakra, Kakashi had endured the pain and used the moment of his enemy’s distraction to free himself.

“Sakura, Naruto, now!” he panted, getting his technique ready with every last drop of his chakra. “After this, run as fast as you can and don’t look back!”

“Sensei...” Naruto shut his eyes and performed the handseals alongside Sakura.

“Doton: Devouring Earth!”

“Suiton: Water Wall!”

The two techniques went off simultaneously, creating a pit of spiralling mud under their attacker’s feet. It was far more powerful than either technique would have been on its own and it swallowed up the five white creatures, leaving only the last one – trapped.

“Kakashi stop!” a female voice exclaimed from behind them, just as he was about to force enough chakra to fire his technique one last time.

“Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!”

“Gatsuuga!”

“Bug Bullet!”

Three techniques went off at once and swarmed the last standing enemy. Yuuhi Kurenai and Team 8 emerged from the trees, battered and out of breath.

“Shino!” Naruto mumbled weakly and wobbled towards his friend, his leg bleeding again. The bug user caught him and helped him stand.

“Naruto,” he sounded worried, but the Uzumaki passed out then, having lost quite a lot of blood and used a lot of chakra too. Nearby, Kakashi and the others were also just barely holding on. Sasuke wasn’t used to his Sharingan yet, while Sakura had used all her chakra on the earth jutsu which she hadn’t even close to perfected yet.

“Make sure you cut off its head,” he panted, pointing at the now morphing mass of black and white. Kurenai raised her blade, when something shot out from the forest again and captured the shifting ‘corpse’.

“Orochimaru!” Kurenai and Kakashi both exclaimed. The pale, tall man slowly turned around, giving them a disdainful look.

“I’m afraid I need to take him with me. Zetsu is invaluable to our organization, you see… Give my regards to your new Hokage,” he drawled before using a jutsu to change into a snake and burrow into the ground, vanishing from sight. 


	8. Reunited

When Naruto next opened his eyes, it took him a moment to realise they weren’t in Takigakure anymore. Team 8 must have transported them somewhere safe. Beside him were the resting forms of Kakashi-sensei, Sakura and Sasuke.

“Uzumaki-san,” Yuuhi Kurenai addressed him, entering the room. “Would you mind telling us what happened? None of your teammates have woken up yet.”

“Ano… Yuuhi-san? I’m not sure how much I’m really allowed to say. It’ll be best if you ask Kakashi-sensei when he recovers, I’m sorry, dattebayo,” the blonde shook his head and tried to get up from the futon, finding his leg still quite severely in pain.

“You heal remarkably fast, Uzumaki-san. A piece of shrapnel was buried in your leg, I had Hinata remove it using her byakugan to inspect the wound. After that, it closed up within just a few hours.”

Naruto nodded and felt under the bandages, everything felt alright just very sore.

“Would you like me to let Shino know you’re awake? He’s been insistent on looking after you until I forced him to rest himself,” Kurenai said with a small smile and the blond frowned at her, but agreed. He couldn’t really remember what happened just before he passed out, but he had definitely been happy to see his friend. He vaguely recalled being called by his name, but... that couldn’t have been right.

The Aburame appeared shortly, with a tray of food and a glass of water for Naruto.

“Can we go somewhere else? I don’t want to wake them,” the blond pleaded in a whisper and Shino helped him walk out into the rōka, the wooden passage all around the outside of the traditional house they were in.

He ate in silence, his feet dangling off the edge of the rōka, just glancing over the grass below. Shino sat beside him, still as a rock, emanating an air of composure that Naruto so badly craved.

“How was your mission to wave?” he asked after a few minutes, finally breaking the silence.

“There were no difficulties, only a few bandits who had been hired to eliminate our client. We were on our way back to Konoha when we received word that we should join your team as soon as possible as back up,” Shino said calmly and Naruto was relieved. Nothing bad had happened on their mission. Well, technically Team 7’s first C rank had been a success as well, but it was very closely followed by disaster which kind of overwhelmed any sense of accomplishment.

“Ugh, I just realised, I should have been looking for an apartment, the Halls’ are going to kick me out now that I’ve been on a C-rank. Damn,” Naruto waved his arms around dramatically and sighed.

“You are welcome to stay at my family’s residence until you find a new home, Uzumaki-san,” Shino assured him but he shook his head.

“I don’t want to impose. And your dad can be quite scary, dattebayo,” he grinned.

“He can be, yes,” the young Aburame sighed, making Naruto break out in laughter.

“I missed you,” the blond blurted out suddenly, going red on the face. He didn’t know why – it wasn’t that bad of a thing to say, was it? Shino stared at him from behind his goggles.

“Likewise, Uzumaki-san.”

*

The return to Konoha was slow and uneventful. Sakura and Sasuke were recovering quite slowly from their chakra exhaustion and weren’t yet trained to endure the pain like Kakashi, who marched on bravely by Kurenai Yuuhi’s side without complaint. Naruto’s leg was feeling practically as new now and he spent most of the journey with Shino, quietly comparing what they had learned with their new senseis. That was when Sakura joined in, surprisingly.

“I don’t know what to focus on – I don’t really have an advantage in one area... there’s kenjutsu genjutsu and iryo-ninjutsu. I just can’t decide, you know?” she chatted to Naruto, who frowned.

“Why not learn everything? If anyone can cram that much knowledge into their brain, it’s you, dattebayo.” Sakura beamed at him.

“You know what. I just might. Kakashi sensei is going to have a field day with this,” she giggled, making the man’s ear twitch. He turned around, eyeing them suspiciously.

“Hmm, are my cute genin talking about me?”

“Nope!” the two of them laughed. Sakura turned out to be surprisingly good company, now that she wasn’t constantly bickering with everyone and drooling over Sasuke. Ever since he protected her from the explosion in battle, she had kept her distance, not knowing what to think. Kakashi had successfully beaten most of the fangirl tendencies out of her, but this was... different. She even confided in Naruto that she didn’t know what she felt. Not that he was much help in that area.

Amazingly, Hinata had kept her distance from him during the whole time. She didn’t seem upset about it or anything – they exchanged a quiet smile every now and again, but she spent most of the time talking to Kurenai about medicinal ointments and herbs. Apparently she had been training with her cousin Neji a lot and it bolstered both her skills vastly and her confidence as well. It seemed she found a good friend in her cousin, for which Naruto was glad.

When they finally arrived back in Konoha, their teams were debriefed separately – Team 8 didn’t know about their ‘other’ mission and it was best if it remained that way.

Tsunade was not pleased with the outcome of the whole situation. Apparently, there was another traitor in their midst, because the information about the situation in Taki had been tampered with, upon closer inspection. She would not have sent a Genin team in there at all otherwise – Hatake Kakashi’s ridiculously well trained Genin or not.

The three teens did not realise just how much the training with their sensei had paid off – not having faced any of the other teams in battle or seen their training. They felt weak and ashamed about their performance in Takigakure, but in fact they were the only team who could have survived such a situation at their level. They were a purely combat focused squad at the time, which was part of the reason for how well they performed. They were simply very talented Genin, whether they knew it or not – Tsunade observed. Even the girl, who she wasn’t very impressed by, had come an astonishingly long way in a short period of time. She no longer looked like someone who spent all her time on make up and hair, but instead trained herself into the ground like a shinobi. Each of the three teens had become stronger and grown, it was easy for anyone older to tell. They were ready for the next Chuunin exams.

“I’m going to reveal very sensitive information to you, Team 7. I am entrusting you with this because I expect great things from each one of you. About Orochimaru being in Takigakure and the Jinchuuriki missing – I know more now. There is an organisation called Akatsuki, which has recently come into the possession of the Ichibi, Sanbi, Yonbi, Gobi, Rokubi and Nanabi.”

“That many? How is that possible?” Kakashi asked in all seriousness, while the three genin stayed silent.

“They are a band of S-rank criminals with unique powers. Even Jiraiya or I may not be a match for them now. Especially with the power of the Tailed Beasts at their disposal. We have two spies within the organisation, however. One is Orochimaru. He infiltrated the Akatsuki when it first formed, under the Third’s order. They’ve been at this for a long time, but they never made a move until the Ichibi host was kidnapped. I assume Orochimaru itended for me to tell you this since he revealed to you the existence of this organisation and the name of the man he saved – this… Zetsu. Still, we cannot contact him frequently and the only one who can do this is my other team mate – Jiraya, who hasn’t returned to the village in several years. The information he has provided for us several years ago states that they intend to collect all nine Bijuu and wipe every elemental country off the map. Their leader apparently believes himself to be God and his ambition is to cleanse the shinobi world and rebuild a new one from its ashes. Still, they could have a hidden agenda that even Orochimaru isn’t privy to.”

“Why are you telling us this, Tsunade-sama?” Naruto frowned.  “We’re just Genin…”

“Because I intend to send you to track Jiraya down if he doesn’t show up until after the next Chuunin Exams. Things are moving uncomfortably fast and I don’t want to be caught unprepared,” Tsunade looked at them long and hard. “That being said, just concentrate on the Exams for now. The new Otokage will be coming and she’ll no doubt send the best of the best, we can’t lose on our home ground.”

“Otokage?” all thee Genin and even Kakashi frowned. Tsunade smirked.

“Orochimaru used his influence with the Akatsuki to take over the Land of Grass recently. He established a village there, then ‘lost’ it in a battle against his own daughter – not that anyone except for us knows that particular detail.”

“Didn’t know he had a daughter,” Kakashi looked quite disgusted.

“No, neither did I until recently. He’s a spy for us… but his morals and motives have always been questionable, it’s for the best that he’s listed as a missing-nin…” Tsunade sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose like she was having an enormous headache.

“So you’re entering us into the Exams, sensei?” Sakura questioned Kakashi with a slightly worried look.

“Maa… It’d be a waste not to,” Kakashi eye-smiled. “Of course, in the next three months we will train like hell to make sure you won’t let Hokage-sama’s hopes down.”

“I expect you three to beat every other Genin in that test. War is coming, I’m sure each of you can sense that. You need to inspire everyone in your generation to do their best so that they can have a chance to survive. Not everyone can be trained by Hatake Kakashi after all,” Tsunade said, steel in her voice and they all knew she wouldn’t tolerate failure.

“Hai, Hokage-sama!” the three of them bowed at once. They knew they were in for the training of a lifetime from the sadistic aura their sensei was exuding. They were dismissed while Kakashi stayed behind for another moment.

“I should have been able to protect them, but I was too slow and out of practice. It’s been a long time since I’ve been in a life-or-death battle,” he said, eye cast down in shame.

“Don’t beat yourself up, kid. You’re the best teacher in this whole village, even if you had a rocky start with those three. They respect you, it’s written all over their faces – even the Uchiha’s. Now go report to the hospital with that broken hand or I’ll have to drag you there myself,” Tsunade barked at him, displeased with his attitude.

“No, I need to train myself even more than I train them. I will not allow any more of my comrades to die,” Kakashi replied with a determination that Tsunade hadn’t seen on him since he was a teenager, barely made a Jonin and choosing to protect a NE operative with his life against an order. Just then, she knew he was the best sensei Team 7 could have ever hoped to have.

*

Naruto was panicking a bit when he finally returned home after the mission, having remembered that he’d have to move out as soon as possible, if they hadn’t kicked him out in the meantime already. However his worries were quickly dissipated when he found a note from Gorou-san under his door that he had called in a favour with the management and they were letting him stay another week. Thanking his sensei under his breath, Naruto committed to looking for a new home immediately... after a long, long nap.

Still, finding a new apartment didn’t prove as challenging as he’d first thought, thanks to Sakura, who seemed to be surprisingly good with that sort of thing. Not once since the unfortunate attempt at training had Naruto regretted accepting the girl’s apology – she was a very good friend now. They went together to check out several apartments the very next day and Naruto, not being particularly picky, chose a simple two bedroom flat which was next to a park and not too far from their usual training ground, which was a bonus. It wasn’t particularly well decorated, but everything he needed was there and he was allowed to move in immediately. Their team went on missions frequently and now would take C-ranks as well, so paying for it wouldn’t be a problem. Sakura helped him move the few things he owned and like so, without any fanfare, he was living on his own. He didn’t really know what to do with himself then, alone in a mostly empty home. He briefly thought about inviting Shino over, but then he remembered Team 8 were meeting that day and would be training until late. He missed his friend and wondered if this was what the Aburame felt every time Naruto couldn’t meet him because he was too busy training since they graduated.

The next day, despite not expecting their sensei to be operational yet because of his severely broken hand, he surprised them by calling a meeting and dragging them all outside of the village, to a rocky area filled with high cliffs.

“I hope you three haven’t been slacking off the last few days,” Kakashi eye-smiled. “Today we’re going climb to the top of this,” he pointed upwards to a very, very high ledge on top of a nearly vertical cliff. “Using only chakra in your hands.”

He demonstrated, using his functional hand to pull himself upwards with some effort. It looked very difficult.

“Ja ne, I’ll be waiting on the top,” he waved them off with the other, bandaged hand before folding it behind his back and making his way upwards. The three Genin exchanged a glance then set to work, neither willing to be the one left behind.

When they finally arrived on the top, arms and fingers cramped up and sweaty all over, they saw Kakashi doing one-armed push ups while he waited.

“Well, now that we’re here, there are a few things I’d like to talk to you three about. Firstly, you,” he eyed Sasuke, who hadn’t yet said a word the whole day. “Sakura and Naruto tell me you think Itachi has meddled with your mind. What I would like to know is, if you knew it might endanger your teammates, why didn’t you speak up?” he accused and the boy flinched.

“I know that you want to become strong enough to kill your brother, but you cannot do that if you’re hurting your friends along the way. Their strength is your strength, you’re only crippling yourself in the long run,” Kakashi’s voice softened a bit. “Do you think Konoha would be as strong as it is if all of its’ ninja’s didn’t work together to defend it?”

Sasuke shook his head.

“Having someone or something to protect brings out true strengths of a shinobi. You can be so much more than just an avenger, Sasuke. You could rebuild your clan and bring it greater fame than before. You could make your parents proud.” Kakashi let his speech sink in and eventually... the young Uchiha nodded.

“I never meant to hurt Shino or Sakura. He placed a genjutsu on me, that… that day. Ever since then, when I fight, I feel this darkness control me, it’s like I’m not myself. I can hear his voice, telling me to live an unsightly life and hate him, over and over again. I didn’t know how to tell anyone, I didn’t want to be weak,” Sasuke spoke without looking at any of them, his hands clenched tightly into fists, white at the knuckles.

“I think we understand. But this has got to stop now,” Kakashi patted the boy on the shoulder with his healthy hand and spoke steadily and calmly. He wouldn’t let one of his students suffer any longer. “Having a Yamanaka inspect your mind is probably for the best. I promise you, I will do my best to keep it a secret but you need to do this, both for yourself and Sakura and Naruto.”

“I… hate the sound of that, but I will do it. I need to become stronger and I can’t, like this,” Sasuke spoke with determination, nodding at their sensei. From the side, Naruto gave him an odd look.

“I was angry at you for ages, you know? Cause you hurt Shino like it was nothing, dattebayo. I was going to get back at you one way or another, but... I can’t exactly hold a grudge against someone who has apologised. That’s not to say I’m not angry at you, Teme,” the blond said, arms crossed across his chest. But he meant every word – he accepted that Sasuke didn’t control what he was doing, but all this could have been avoided if he’d just spoken up about his problems, so he was still quite upset about it.

“I’m sorry,” Sasuke said though the words stung his pride severely.

“I’m not the one you need to apologise to. Shino was the one you _set on fire_ , dattebayo,” Naruto huffed, but did feel only a slightly bit better. He thought the Uchiha finally understood.

Sakura had a little smile on her face, unnoticed by anyone else.

“Well then, how about we get started on some training?” Kakashi interrupted their ‘moment’. He seemed to be in quite a good mood now – which for them, meant imminent torture. They weren’t wrong.

*

The months leading up to the Chuunin Exam were filled with blood and sweat, mental exhaustion and _a lot_ of teamwork exercises. And when they weren’t training, each member of Team 7 had their own extracurricular activities – Kakashi trained to regain functionality in his now-healed hand and his old speed and strength, Sakura crammed medical ninjutsu texts and practiced different genjutsu on Naruto and Sasuke, when they were too tired to train physically. Naruto was taught the Kage Bunshin technique by Kakashi, who thought it was something he could utilise better than anyone else, at least outside of battle. His chakra reserves were growing at an alarming rate and having clones constantly using up his energy and practicing chakra control helped him maintain a good grasp on his power. He’d never hear the end of it from Gorou-sensei if he let his chakra control slip. The Shadow Clone was a godsend for him, it turned out, because they were capable of helping with elemental training as well. He could now do both of his water jutsu without a water source, which was no small feat for his age. Sure, he couldn’t even dream of conjuring something like the Suiryuudan out of thin air… not yet, anyway, but being able to remove this restriction on his unique jutsu was already an enormous boost to his skills. He usually had one clone working on control while he trained, and another three helping with the elemental manipulation. This was the best he could manage while sustaining them for a long period of time and still maintaining his focus. Meanwhile, Sasuke went through therapy with a very quiet Yamanaka, who was helping him counteract the effects of Itachi’s psychological manipulation. She suspected that the genjutsu used on him was a cover for a technique of a different nature, which created the compulsion to fight aggressively, like an over-active defense mechanism. Trying to suppress it was a bit like trying not to blink while someone was jabbing you in the eye with their finger, but Sasuke wasn’t a prodigy for nothing and made quite a bit of progress.

Naruto’s fifteenth birthday came and went and with it, colder weather slowly began to creep in. In Konoha, the winter months were still relatively warm, but the leaves on the trees slowly changed colour and stronger winds began to blow them away. Still, Team 7 continued to train themselves into the ground.

The only reprieve they had were missions, but even those soon began to take their toll on the Genin. On their second C-rank, each of the young members of Team 7 was forced to make their first official kill. The creatures they had defeated in Takigakure were technically their first kills, but they didn’t bleed and didn’t have families, lovers, children – as far as they could imagine. But these bandits were very, very real – so was the blood on their hands and the burning smell of flesh Sasuke’s favourite jutsu caused to rise from the decimated camp. Kakashi comforted them to the best of his ability, but amazingly they dealt with the mental strain of it by confiding in each other, first. His team was really becoming a cohesive unit now – they ate together, trained together, fought and killed together. They had a sort of strength one didn’t usually see in young ninja, but rather in teams who had been working together for years and years and it really showed in how well they worked together. The Copy Ninja couldn’t have been more proud.

Finally, when the Winter Chuunin Exam rolled around, they felt ready. None of the three would gloat of their strength, but they were confident that the months they spent nearly killing themselves with training weren’t for nothing. They showed up at the Academy well prepared – Sakura had even changed to clothing for colder weather, finally giving up the bright red dress that she had liked so much. She now wore a standard, black shinobi shirt with long sleeves, over which she had a red top with a Chinese-style collar and an apron skirt over the top of black leggings and calf-high boots. Naruto rather liked the change, feeling that it now reflected the slow change in her over the months – from a fangirl to a serious kunoichi. She was still loud and brash sometimes, but so was he and there wasn’t anything wrong with that. They both knew when to focus and put the mission first and their emotions second, which was what counted.

The three of them stepped into the familiar and nostalgic hall filled with Genin from different villages.

“Hmm... something’s off,” Naruto commended looking around. Sasuke’s eyes flashed red.

“Genjutsu,” he muttered and all three of them flushed chakra through their systems, overpowering it. The sign over the door in front of them melted away and revealed the number 203 instead of 303.

“Ah,” Naruto chuckled, seeing the hold up of Genin in front, blocked by a couple of larger kids. Team 7 passed them by and went up the stairs, where a considerably lower number of people was gathered.

“You must be Naruto-san!” someone yelled and in a green flash, a boy dressed all in spandex appeared in front of Naruto. “And Uchiha Sasuke. My name is Rock Lee!” he did an awkward sort of pose. Then he noticed Sakura.

“You are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen! Go out with me and I will protect you with my life!” he exclaimed passionately, face red and fat eyebrows wiggling.

“Thanks.. but I can take care of myself,” Sakura replied, though she did back away a bit in apprehension.

“Your flames of youth burn brightly! What is your name, the fairest maiden of Konoha!” the boy still came closer, but Naruto stopped him.

“That’s Haruno Sakura and you really don’t want to mess with her. She’ll put you in a genjutsu for a week,” he said in a semi-conspirational voice. Lee finally seemed to calm down a bit, but there were still hearts in his eyes when he turned back to her.

“You must be Tenten-san’s friend, am I correct?” Lee asked, finally turning his attention from Sakura.

“What, is she here, dattebayo?” Naruto asked in return, scratching the back of his head in an unknowingly Kakashi-like manner.

“Indeed,” Lee waved to Tenten and another guy with long hair who then emerged from behind another team.

“I thought we were keeping a low profile?” the girl questioned, hands on her hips and giving Lee a reprimanding look.

“Yo,” Naruto said, surprising her.

“Oh my god, I didn’t realise you’d be here this time too!” she hugged him at once. “You should go register, there isn’t much time left!”

They went to hand in their forms in the next room, but saw Kakashi-sensei sitting in the open window of the hall.

“Good luck,” he eye-smiled at them and vanished. The three felt a fresh wave of confidence fill them. There wasn’t long left until the first test, so they hurried up to register and then queue outside of the examination room. Shino and his team were there as well, Naruto noticed tried to catch the Aburame’s eye, with no success unfortunately.

Finally the door opened, a Chuunin let them all in and ordered everyone to get seated. A man with a scar over his face was standing next to the blackboard and stared all the Genin down roughly.

“Silence!” he barked and immediately all the hushed whispers died down. There were maybe eighty Genin in the room, or 27 teams. Naruto did a quick headcount of each village’s representatives. There was one team from Otogakure, two from Kusagakure, five from Amegakure, eight from Suna and eleven from Konoha. Naruto wasn’t too surprised to notice there were no representatives from Taki, considering the rather egregious security breach the country had recently dealt with. They probably needed everyone to stay in the village and protect it for now.

“Now that you kids have all registered, I welcome you to the Chuunin Exam – if you can find the actual exam site that is. Be there by midnight or you fail before we even get started,” the man said with a disturbing ghost of a smile and some of the weaker willed Genin flinched.

Team 7 was already forming a strategy.

“I’ll hit the archives, maybe past records will have something,” Sakura offered.

“I’ll follow some of the other Genin and see if they have an idea,” Sasuke supplied then, eyeing one of the older Konoha teams intensely.

“I’ve got the examiner’s scent, I’ll see if I can’t track a way to the exam ground that way. If that fails, I’ll search everywhere at once,” Naruto focused on lining the inside of his nose with chakra, amplifying the sense of smell exponentially like Kakashi had taught him.

“Meet back at the training ground by nine even if we don’t find anything,” he muttered and they split up, each set on their own task.

It turned out that finding the examiner was a bit tricky. First, Naruto ended up in some building where the man’s coat had been left as a decoy, but he wasn’t ready to give up yet. He made five clones and had them check out anywhere he could find the scent, until one dispelled and sent him the memory of a big steel door leading underground. That didn’t really seem like the sort of place an exam would be held, but maybe that was exactly the point. He made his other clones circle around the area as stealthy as possible, eventually seeing a Chuunin go through the door and not return. It was definitely, definitely suspicious, though he couldn’t be sure.

There was no point in wasting any more time so he went to the training ground where he’d meet Sasuke and Sakura later. It was probably best to take the next few hours to rest up, if they were supposed to start at midnight. Now, the old Naruto would have been too excited to sleep during an exam like this, but now he merely sat down cross-legged on the grass and meditated until he began to feel calm and then simply sat there, resting until he heard the sound of two pairs of footsteps.

“Any luck?” Sakura asked him and he shook his head.

“There’s one place worth checking out, but nothing for certain. There’s a door leading underground by the Hokage Tower.”

“Hn, that matches what I found. There were two Chuunin in with us as a Genin team, using a Henge. I noticed it with my Sharingan and followed them, one then mentioned something about the first exam being in a tunnel.” Sasuke said, sitting down beside him, followed by Sakura, who took out a bunch of crumpled notes from her shuriken pouch.

“That matches what I found. There wasn’t much on the Chuunin Exam – they clearly don’t want Genin trying to find out too much. But then I was thinking of good places to host something like this – I mean it’s not just anywhere you can have 80 or more ninja at one time. There were a few places that looked promising, I wrote them down. See here, from what you said it sounds like it will be in this old tunnel, it’s not used much anymore except for emergencies, but it goes all around the village and has exits in several places like the Hokage Monument, the Tower, the Village Gates.”

“Looks like we’ve got a winner, dattebayo,” Naruto looked over the notes she’d handed him, memorizing them as best as he could. Sakura, no doubt could draw the map from memory now.

“We’ve got five hours left, what should we do?” Sakura questioned, looking around for something to do.

“We might end up being there overnight, so it might be good to eat and rest up a bit. Or we can go annoy Kakashi-sensei, they didn’t say it wasn’t allowed after all...” the blond trailed off, but then decided against the idea anyway. Their sensei was probably training, it seemed to be all he did these days.

*

By midnight, everyone gathered around the door Naruto had found earlier. It was quite surprising that all the teams made it, but then again the weakest ones had been weeded out at the very beginning.

“Alright, brats! You’ll be following me to the next stage. Stick close to me!” a woman Naruto recognised as Anko shouted, her purple, pineapple-shaped hair bobbing up and down at the front of the crowd. Everyone trickled into the dark tunnel and began to walk after Anko. They walked and walked, then walked some more... and somewhere along the line the woman had picked up speed. By Sasuke’s count, they’d walked about five miles already, but it was kind of difficult to tell in the dark.

“We’re going in circles aren’t we. How troublesome…” Shikamaru’s voice drawled from somewhere behind them. Naruto just focused on following the Jonin instead of getting into pointless conversation at this stage. Anko picked up speed to a light run now, then after a few minutes most Genin were struggling to keep up. Team 7 was mostly fine, though Sakura was quite out of breath as the least physically fit of the group, but she could still keep up without too much trouble. Behind them, Chouji was whizzing dangerously, struggling to keep running. This was a good motivation to keep up the pace because the chubby, sweating boy was beginning to smell. This all wouldn’t have been so bad, had that been all this test consisted off. Suddenly, a hail of kunai flew towards the examinees from a side branch of the tunnel. There was a scuffle and some of the confused Genin stopped.

“Keep up, kids!” Anko laughed sadistically and picked up the pace to a full blown run. It definitely wasn’t the Jonin’s top speed, but a large part of the Genin pack had broken off at the back and it was doubtful they could catch up.

“I forgot to mention, if you fall too far behind, the other examiners will come to find you and you fail~!” the woman laughed again, looking entirely too pleased to be doing this. More kunai flew towards the group and they struggled to keep up the pace while dodging as well. How long they’d been running now, it was impossible to tell and even Team 7 was beginning to feel the strain. It was the middle of the night and they’d been running at a fast pace for several hours.

“Right-o, we’re nearly there! First team gets to go first! You kids go through the door on the left!” Anko ordered a team from Oto and they quickly detached from the group and disappeared from view. Next was Team 7 and they were directed to a door further along, on the left.

Behind it was a narrower tunnel and someone was standing there, cloaked in the shadows.

“Hey, squirt.”

“Gorou-sensei!” Naruto exclaimed in shock. Before him was definitely his sensei, holding a white scroll in his hand. “What are you doing here?”

“I had a whim to make my student’s life more difficult, obviously,” Gorou smirked. “Now, you three will have to get this scroll from me. Every examiner gets to decide their test, so there is no way to cheat.”

“Get the scroll?” Sasuke narrowed his eyes at it. Gorou nodded, then put the scroll away into one of his pockets.

“If you can. However, if you attack me I won’t hold back,” the man grinned, knowing exactly what was going through the Uchiha’s head.

“Don’t even think about it, Teme. He’s as good as Kakashi-sensei,” Naruto shook his head. “What’s the test, then?” he turned to Gorou-san, who put the scroll away and straightened up, facing them.

“Well, since your weak point was always academics, squirt, I’ll go with that I think. You’ll have to answer a total of three questions to get past me. I will take turns asking each one of you... However, for each mistake I will detain you here for an additional ten hours. When you run out of hours to wager on a question, you fail. Think fast,” Gorou-san smirked and the three Genin glanced at each other. Sure, studying was never Naruto’s strong point, but Sasuke and Sakura would probably be okay.

“First question.” The man faced Sakura. “If ‘VICTORY’ is coded as ‘Y-L-F-W-R-U-B’, how can ‘SUCCESS’ be coded?”

The girl calmly repeated the code to herself then thought intensely for a moment. Naruto and Sasuke both thanked Kami for the girl’s amazing memory.  

“VXFFHVV” she answered finally, confident in her answer. Gorou-san smirked approvingly. “Next, Uchiha,” he turned to Sasuke.

“I may not be something that you see   
But I am something that you use   
Something daily in your lives   
Something that can hurt and bruise   
You probably do not fear me   
But you should  - Let your guard down   
And kill you I could   
Do you know what i am?”

Gorou recited and Sasuke took a minute to think about it.

“The heart?” he said hesitantly after a moment.

“Are you asking me or telling me?” Gorou sounded unimpressed.

“Telling, sir,” Sasuke corrected himself, uncomfortable under the Jonin’s stare.

“Last, squirt. Something a bit different for you. _If qualities of Heaven are your desire, acquite wisdom and knowledge to take your mind higher. If Earthly qualities are what you lack, train your body in the fields and prepare to attack. When both Heaven and Earth are opened together the path to peril will revert to the righteous path forever_. What is the next task in the test?” Gorou faced him and internally, Naruto panicked. Logic really wasn’t his strong suit, and this this was IQ test type of stuff and riddles, whatever the hell it was. He couldn’t screw up – 10 hours was a long time to be held back. And there was no guarantee he could answer the next question correctly, either.

“Okay…” he mumbled to himself, concentrating. His sensei wouldn’t ask a question he knew he couldn’t possibly have an answer to. For both the other questions, the solution was hidden in the questions, too. He just had to calm down and think.

“Take your time,” Gorou drawled and Naruto scowled at him. He needed to calm down. Breathing in and out, he considered everything Gorou-sensei had said again. He could practically feel Sakura and Sasuke’s stares boring into the side of his head but he did his best to ignore them.

“Okay.. I thiiiink, we’ll have to find a scroll that says ‘Earth’ on it. I noticed yours earlier had the symbol for ‘Heaven’. So we need to get a hold of the matching one to pass, dattebayo,” Naruto blurted out, hoping to Kami that his answer wasn’t totally stupid.

“Huh? What do you know, you got it right. I memorized all the different test questions for fucking nothing,” his sensei groaned before tossing to him the white ‘Heaven’ scroll. “You better blow the other Genin out of the fucking water, squirt.” He opened the next door and they all blanched, covering their eyes from the morning light of the outside. 

“You have… 119 hours and 40 minutes until the beginning of the next stage. Deliver two different scrolls to an examiner and you pass. Don’t die,” Naruto’s sensei gave them a little wave and then slammed the doors shut behind them. They looked around, confused. Enormous trees loomed over them and there was no sign of civilisation as far as they could see.

“I think… we’re in the Forest of Death,” Sakura breathed.


	9. Fight or Flight

They were hiding from the rain and the wind in a sort of cave made of enormous tree roots, out of the sight of potential competition.

“So… we have five days to get another scroll and find an examiner. No biggie, dattebayo,” Naruto snorted.

“There was a tower in the middle of the forest. That’s probably where they want us to go,” Sakura took out the crumpled piece of paper out of her pouch again.

“Yeah but there could be… lots of other teams out there. Or none. We were probably the first to go in. If we go to the tower now then try to backtrack the chances are we’ll just reveal ourselves needlessly,” Naruto frowned, thinking the whole exam over again.

“This will be why the question had a time penalty. You could still pass and only have ten hours left to get a scroll, but by then almost all the teams will be gone.” Sasuke joined into the conversation at last, looking awkward. He didn’t seem to be used to them being friends of sorts yet and rarely talked with them if he could avoid it. But his therapy had been making progress and he tried to reach out to them more, they knew and quietly waited for him to take that step when he was ready.

“Right. So what do we do?”

“How about we get up high first and see if we can find out where we actually are. Then gather food, prepare an ambush for another team.” Sasuke volunteered to climb to the top of the tree they were on and scout ahead a bit.

“It’s unlikely many teams will be here so soon. They were waiting longer to let the slower groups out of the tunnel anyway,” Sakura said, glad that their team made it out so soon. They had a definitive advantage over the others this way. “Though… that Oto team will be somewhere out there and we have no idea what skills they might have.”

“Unless they’re experts at hiding, I will smell them from a mile off. I think we’re safe for now,” Naruto offered, making sure that they were in fact alone once again. He couldn’t constantly enhance his smell but once every few minutes should be okay and hardly put a dent in his huge chakra reserves.

It turned out, their team’s biggest enemy so far was boredom. They were used to constantly training and it was difficult to just sit still and hide. Several hours in and they were all fidgeting.

“Can we just go out and find a team to fight?” Naruto whined, earning himself a punch from Sakura. “I was just kidding, ‘ttebayo…”

“Sh,” Sasuke stopped them both. “I thought I heard something…” And then Naruto flinched. One of his clones that had been keeping watch was just killed.

“They know we’re around,” he whispered, getting a kunai out and the three of them sprang out of hiding. There was no point remaining inside a small cave where they’d be easy pickings for anyone who knew a large-scale jutsu.

“There they are,” a bored-sounding voice called out from somewhere among the trees. A blond ninja from Ame emerged; a strange breathing mask over his face. A dozen pale figures began to surface from the trees and the ground, all dressed in the same manner. The Konoha trio was eerily reminded of their encounter in Taki and immediately went on high alert.

“It’s a genjutsu,” Sakura whispered, quickly dispelling it for both of her teammates. “Quite a high level one... but nothing I can’t manage,” she bit her thumb, putting out more chakra to break the illusion’s hold on her mind.

“Let’s show them not to mess with Team 7 again,” Naruto gripped his kunai tight. “We’ll cover you, Sakura. Do your thing, dattebayo,” he focused on the blond ninja, launching his kunai towards him.

“Hmm.. you broke Midou’s genjutsu. Not bad. But this is where you die,” he said and took two large umbrellas that had been strapped to his back and threw them up in the air.

“Thousand Needles Jutsu!” he shouted, forming a handseals.

“Mizudeppo!” Naruto directed a high pressure beam right at the two objects, slicing them in half.

“They said Konoha genin were weak!” their opponent yelled, panicking now. “Midou, Asahi, help me!” he called out to his teammates, who had apparently been hiding in the bushes up till now. But they didn’t come to his rescue, instead two loud screams were heard.

“Genjutsu: Boiling Point,” Sakura said calmly and knew her technique had worked. It was a very useful jutsu which made the enemy hear a very high pitched noise, capable of distracting them or even causing short term paralysis. Despite it being an illusion, the mind was a very easily affected thing, if you showed it something real enough – genjutsu masters skilled enough could trick the body into killing itself, or so she’d heard. Her favourite thing about the b-ranked technique she’d just used was that it could affect nin-dogs as well and there was no easy way to block it.

“Good job,” Sasuke smirked and she couldn’t help but blush a bit.

“Let’s get out of here, we made a lot of noise. This place will be crawling with other teams in no time,” Naruto frowned and the three genin shot in the general direction they knew the tower to be. They now had another Heaven scroll, which wasn’t of much use to them just now, other than as a bargaining chip.

“How about we head a bit further in? If we run into a Konoha team we can try to trade with them,” the blonde suggested and the others didn’t really have any objections. Four hours in and they already had a scroll, it wasn’t too bad.

“There’s no point staying here. We won’t find many teams in the outer ring and we can’t progress unless we do… we should take the risk. We’ve rested up, there isn’t going to be a better time to get a scroll,” Sakura agreed.

“Tut tut, you kids shouldn’t just be chatting out in the open. Still.. I was hoping we’d run into one of the weaker Konoha-nin first and not Hatake’s brats but what can you do...”  a new voice spoke up from in front of them. Three Kusa-nin were blocking their path.

 “At least we can get a Sharingan from this one… we can get the Byakugan girl afterwards, there’s no rush,” the other one of them spoke. That was all they had a chance to say, because Naruto and Sasuke shot towards them in tandem. Using two kunai each, they trapped their opponents in an electric field.

Naruto felt... calm. They were going after Shino’s team. Shino would be in danger. Everything suddenly became clear, for the first time he knew exactly what he had to do. He wouldn’t let them hurt a single hair on Shino’s head. Even if he had to kill them first.

Paralyzed, the Kusa-nin were sitting ducks. Team 7 moved around them fast and gracefully, but with the power of a torrent of water. Striking accurately and efficiently, they captured the three of them within seconds.

“You shouldn’t underestimate us, dattebayo,” Naruto growled, a kunai at the enemy leader’s neck. Ready to strike. But he wouldn’t kill. He wasn’t even angry, he was in control. He could slit all their throats without blinking, but he wouldn’t, because he knew they weren’t a threat anymore. Now he knew how to find his focus in a battle. Understood who was his source of strength.

What that meant? He didn’t know.

*

After leaving the Kusa-nin strung up on a tree branch and unable to set themselves free, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura set out for the tower, now in the possession of the other scroll they needed. They were quickly getting sick of the forest and somehow, everyone kept finding them. It wasn’t an appealing thought to stay there any longer than necessary. Naruto was tempted to go and look for Team 8, but that would only draw unwanted attention to both their teams, possibly even they’d be the reason Shino would be in danger. Team 8 was primarily a tracking squad and knew how to hide better than anyone. They would be fine, he told himself and pressed on ahead. The three of them were getting tired now – having slept only a few hours. It was the main reason why they fell head-first into an _admittedly_ well-made trap.

“Damn!” Naruto and Sasuke both cursed while Sakura tumbled to the ground behind them. Before they even got to their feet, ninja wire shot out of every direction, wrapping around them.

“Wait!” a female with very bright red hair showed herself then, jumping down from a tree branch. “They’re Konoha. Otokage-sama said not to fight against them if we can avoid it,” she said and then another two appeared, wearing the same headband as her. Sound.

The other two turned out to be male twins, dark skinned and with one purple eye and one yellow eye, on opposite sides.

“But what if-,” “They have the scroll we need?” they spoke in unison, but it didn’t sound particularly threatening, just curious.

“We have a spare Heaven scroll, take it if you want. We don’t want to fight either,” Sakura said, while Sasuke frowned, probably having been looking forward to something more challenging. Naruto was just watching their opponents silently for once.

“Well don’t just stand there, cut them down, datteba!” the redhead shook her head and the twins released the wires with a handseal. Sakura gasped, Naruto gaped. Sasuke had the wits to actually hand over the scroll and not make the Oto team think they had been lying.

“See you in the finals, Konoha!” the redhead grinned and their team jumped away in the opposite direction. “We won’t hold back then, datteba!”

Team 7 was quite startled to say at least, but decided it was best to just rush for the Tower and discuss what happened later. When they arrived an examiner appeared in front of them and demanded both the scrolls.

“You’re, like, the first team here. Would have been a record if not for that Suna team last time round that finished in under an hour,” the woman laughed. “Not injured either. Are there any normal genin around these days? Haha,” she seemed quite the cheerful type and chatted at them while she showed them to a room they could rest up in for the remainder of the exam. Team 7 mostly let her words wash over them, tired and still riled up over everything that had happened over the last 28 hours.

However, they weren’t content to stay down for long and quickly returned to training to pass the time. Naruto and Sakura had a sort of impromptu dance-off on the wall to practice chakra control, of course, both quite in a good mood the next morning, because they had actually done really well so far. Sasuke was brooding in a corner as always, but was secretly amused by their antics.

After the second night, the tower finally began to fill up with other Genin. Team 8 and Team Gai arrived, followed by some of the foreign teams. In the meantime, Sakura found an older Genin called Kabuto and hounded him for some medical ninjutsu training, as he was the one who taught her most of what she knew so far, while Naruto spent some time hanging out with Tenten and Lee, who was quite fun to be around if you ignored all the weirdness. The Hyuuga from their team kind of freaked Naruto out, but he politely thanked Naruto for his influence over ‘Lady Hinata’ so as far as the blond was concerned, he was alright.

The only person he was afraid to approach was Shino. The young Aburame didn’t go out of his way to greet Naruto and now it was difficult and awkward to find an excuse to go talk to Team 8. There were so many things the blond wanted to say to his friend… but he didn’t really know how to vocalise any of them. He didn’t know what it was he was feeling, but it left him with an undercurrent of anxiousness in all his thoughts.

After the fourth day dragged in a very beaten up Team 10, no more teams showed up for the remainder of the time limit. Finally, it was time for the end or the next stage of the exam – Team 7 were eager to pass. All the teams were called to a large hall at the back of the tower, where the Hokage and a sickly looking Jonin awaited them. Naruto, out of the corner of his eye noticed that Hinata and Shikamaru were holding hands. What an... unexpected sight, he thought.

“Well done on getting this far, everyone,” the Jonin congratulated them. “Ahem, ahem, now Im going to..”

“I will explain it, Hayate,” the Hokage interrupted him, stepping forward.

“The last and final stage of this exam will be a team vesus team tournament, in front of the whole village, feudal lords and Kages. It will be your chance for a promotion but also a place where any mistakes may impact your career. You will now draw lots to decide your opponents. Before we begin, would anyone like to forfeit?” No one spoke up. “Very well, then. Hayate, bring up the box,” she commanded and the sickly man held out a box with a hole on top in front of them.

“One person per team, please,” he coughed out and everyone lined up, muttering among themselves.

Naruto looked over everyone that was left, seeing them all in one place for the first time since before the first stage. There were five Konoha teams left, including them, the team from Oto, two teams from Sand and a team from Kusagakure and Ame each.

Sakura drew the number 3 for their team.

Within a few minutes, Hayate spoke upagain.

“Ahem… the screen behind me will display the match ups so please pay attention.”

Naruto looked up.

Team 7 of Konoha versus Team 1 of Sound

Team 8 of Konoha versus Team 4 of Suna

Team 10 of Konoha versus Team 5 of Konoha

Team 2 of Ame versus Team 5 of Suna

Team 6 of Kusa versus Team 9 of Konoha

“Aren’t these supposed to be random, dattebayo?” he muttered under his breath. The redhead from Oto caught his eye and waved.

Tsunade gave a speech imparting to them the importance of showing a village’s strength though the Chuunin Exams, after which they were allowed to leave for a whole month, while the tournament was organised.

“They don’t usually do this whole big tournament thing... like last time...” Tenten chatted to him as they were leaving, but Naruto wasn’t really paying attention, distracted. Team 8 was walking a little further ahead of them and Naruto was havign difficulty in making up his mind whether to go and speak to him or not.

“Excuse me,” he said hastily to her and ran after Shino.

“Congratulations,” he said to the Aburame, falling in step with him. Shino nodded.

“Likewise. I heard your team was the first to arrive in the tower. That is a considerable achievement.”

“Thanks, man. Though really the Oto team kind of paved the way for us then let us past. No idea what that was about, dattebayo.” Naruto was in fact quite happy to be praised. “Hey did you know that Hinata and Shikamaru were dating?”

“Yes,” Shino said simply. “She is my teammate.”

“Well, I was surprised. Been too busy to really catch up with anyone recently,” Naruto was babbling now, unsure of what to say.

“Apologies, but I must return home now. I will see you at the finals, Uzumaki-san,” the Aburame said and left. Naruto stood there, gaping after him. His friend had clearly assumed that they wouldn’t be seeing each other until then, which stung deeply. Well, he wasn’t willing to just let things be like this, he’d go and see Shino and surprise him if he had to.

*

Unfortunately, his plans were not to be. Tsunade summoned him the very same day to congratulate him on doing well in the exam so far and they got into a rather depressing discussion about Naruto’s parentage. He just couldn’t help but ask – but she only shook her head sadly.

“Naruto, don’t do this to yourself. I saw it with my teammate Jiraya – he is an orphan like you and he was always searching for his parents. Don’t get your hopes up, if there’s no records, the chances of finding them are slim to none. The Uzumaki clan was once large and they’re scattered all over the Elemental Countries now, there’s no telling which one might have left you in Konoha.”

“Hai, Tsunade-sama,” Naruto’s head drooped down, his already slim hopes dashed.

“However.. I do have some good news for you. I was planning to wait until the tournament, but... listen. The girl in the Oto team is an Uzumaki.” At this, Naruto’s head shot up.

“What’s her name?!” he exclaimed at once.

“Uzumaki Mina. She’s the Otokage’s apprentice, as far as I know,” Tsunade smiled at his enthusiasm. “Also your opponent in the exam, so don’t embarrass yourself.”

“Hai, haha. I can’t believe it though, another Uzumaki, dattebayo!” he could barely sit in his seat. “And I met her in the Forest of Death. I wonder if she knows about me?”

“She probably does, the participant list is shared between the villages which send their Genin here. I just want you to be careful, okay Naruto? She might not want to find her family, we don’t know her circumstances. I don’t want to see you hurt.”

“Yes, Aunt Tsunade,” his mood plummeted again, imagining the worst possible scenarios. Finally he got to meet another Uzumaki, but… things were never so simple.

*

The next day, Team 7 met to discuss their training. They wouldn’t start that day, because Kakashi had some business to take care of at the Hokage’s office, but they made a plan of things to improve on and learn over the next month. This didn’t take long and after their sensei left, they just began talking about other things.

“Actually... Naruto, we’ve been meaning to tell you. Sasuke and I are… dating,” Sakura flared red all over her face, though it was still a far cry from her old fangirl reactions.

“When did that happen? ... No one tells me anything, dattebayo?!” Naruto groaned, dramatically collapsing from his cross-legged position to laying on the ground limply. Then he shot back up. “Good for you. Shikamaru and Hinata seem to be dating as well… man, when did all this even happen?" He couldn't help but repeat himself, baffled.

“Well, that’s a bit... different. Their clans arranged a marriage between them... to take effect when Shikamaru becomes a Chuunin. Hinata told me they’re dating as a sort of… trial run. But I think she really likes him and she seems to motivate him to actually train, so… Anyway it’s not that unusual for clan heirs to marry at our age, I think. And...” Sakura said thoughtfully. “They’re kinda cute, aren’t they?” she squealed a bit. Old habits die hard.

“They’re getting married? Woah,” Naruto gaped. “I hope you two aren’t tying the knot yet because I don’t fancy being a bridesmaid, dattebayo,” he then said with a grin. “And you-,” he faced Sasuke. “Better treat her right.” 

“I know,” the Uchiha said almost pensively and Naruto felt a little bad. Sasuke was trying really hard to come out of his shell and connect to others now and the past incident with Sakura clearly left a mark on him, too.

“Well, I’ll give you two some privacy then,” the blond fidgeted, a bit uncomfortable now. He was happy for them, but also feared how their Team dynamic might change now. And anyway, he had other things to do.

When he tried to visit Shino, the Aburame heir wasn’t there. Instead, Mizuho came out to greet him and congratulate him on getting into the finals, complete with a hug and everything. They chatted about Naruto’s missions, training and other small things, with Mizuho mostly listening calmly like was her usual manner.

“Hmm… well, seems like Kakashi has done a good job training you. I never expected him to actually bother,” she said, amused.

“Ano... can I ask you something?” Naruto looked up at the woman who he saw so rarely but respected so much. Mizuho just waited for him to continue.

“My classmates, Hinata and Shikamaru are getting married. Is that... normal, in clans? I’ve never even thought about it and now everyone around me is dating or married, it’s crazy, dattebayo,” he tried to sound calm, to center himself again, but as it always seemed to happen around his Nee-san, it didn’t work.

“Well, it’s not that unusual. Shouhei and I were engaged at your age, but the Aburame don’t usually stress things like marriage or what partner you choose, so we didn’t marry until a few years ago. Bloodline clans are more paranoid about maintaining the line of succession, so they tend to force their heirs to marry young.” Mizuho said thoughtfully, chin resting on her hand.

“So Shino won’t be getting married all of a sudden?” Mizuho’s face fell.

“His situation is more... complicated. Hasn’t he told you?” she asked with an obvious frown.

“Tell me what?” Naruto’s eyebrows shot up.

“… It is not my place to tell.” Mizuho clamped up as she usually did on certain topics.

“Please… nee-san, tell me. I need to know,” he didn’t know why he needed to know, but it felt important, somehow.

“Shibi-sama has been arranging marriage interviews with some of the other clans for a long time now, however Shino has been... stubborn and has so far declined every single one,” she said, choosing her words slowly.

“Why?” Naruto was shocked to hear this. Shino and his father were fighting and once again, he hadn't even known.

“What is it you do not understand, Naruto? As Shino’s partner...”

“What? We’re… we’re not…” the blond stammered, gaping at Mizuho. She stared at him back for a moment.

“Ah.” Her lips formed a thin, displeased line. “I see. I am… sorry, Naruto. It appears there has been a misunderstanding.”

“Huh?”

“The Aburame allow very few people to enter their clan grounds. Think about it,” she shook her head before getting up from the bench they were on.

“But why would he-,” Naruto began, confused more than ever. If Mizuho had thought he was...

“You should ask Shino that,” Mizuho replied, her tone final. “Honestly, that boy...” she muttered, then got up.

“Goodnight, Naruto,” she left quickly and Naruto felt the familiar sting of being left behind by an Aburame, again.

What Shino had been thinking when he let his clan believe they were... boyfriends or whatever, Naruto needed to know. What the hell?!

*

But he didn’t get to see Shino for the whole next month. Either he was training very vigorously with his team or he was doing a spectacularly good job of avoiding Naruto. The distance between them seemed to increase with every passing day and Naruto hated it.

Still, there was no time to dwell on personal matters while he trained with Sasuke and Sakura every day from dawn till late at night, pushing his skills to their limit and further. When the day of the tournament arrived, the three of them were ready to fight as one and win together or lose together.

The stadium was already full to the brim when they arrived, bustling with lively conversations and anticipation. The arena was large and round, with a few trees around – not an ideal terrain for a Konoha shinobi who were more used to fighting in dense vegetation, but good for showing off the Chuunin hopefuls’ skills to the nobles, lords and Kages in the audience.

Being the first team to fight, Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto were a bit anxious, they needed to make an impression as the Hokage was expecting them to and their opponents weren’t going to be a pushover, either.

Slowly the other participants trickled in, lining up to face the audience proudly. Naruto saw Shino walk past him, but just in the last second turned away, scared of making eye contact. He vaguely listened to the Hokage’s welcoming speech being projected across the stadium, concentrating on observing the other teams.

“Let’s do this, dattebayo,” he murmured to Sakura and Sasuke, straightening his vest and looking up at the cheering crowd.

“Alright... first up, Team 7 of Konoha versus Team 1 of Sound. Everyone else go upstairs, please,” the Jounin who would be judging the match said, loud and clear and every other team left. The six Genin left faced off against each other, ready to fight.

“What, no pre-fight speech? Hmm... have it your way then. Begin!” the Jounin jumped away.

Immediately, the two teams broke away, leaving Sasuke and the unusual loking twins facing off in a fast-paced taijutsu match. There was no warm-up, the blows came too fast and the Uchiha already had to activate his Sharingan. The twins’s fighting style was difficult to predict, they were so in-sync it was like fighting a creature with four arms. Then suddenly, a hand shot out of the chest of one of the twins, nearly catching Sasuke by surprise. Without his Sharingan, he would probably have taken a beating. He avoided the fast-paced blow by a minimal margin, trying to observe what the trick to their attack was. He didn’t get a chance to find out, because a massive wave of water emerged from behind the twins, rushing towards them. Sending chakra to his feet, Sasuke jumped up.

“Suiton: Water Wall!” each team’s respective Uzumaki shouted nearly at the same time. Clearly, the girl didn’t mind her teammates being caught in the attack, but she hadn’t anticipated that Naruto would set off his own, stronger jutsu at the same time. Naruto’s elemental training was clearly paying off because the water that shot forward filled most of the stadium. Sakura used an earth jutsu to elevate them above the crashing waves. In front of them, Sasuke landed on top of the unstable water, before backing off as the twins emerged from it, unharmed. He retreated to the rest of Team 7, his breathing a little ragged already.

“Was that a genjutsu?” Naruto asked, looking towards the twins, who had on their side regrouped with the red headed girl.

“No, they’re... phasing through each other or something. There’s a strange chakra signature just before they do it, that’s how I could predict them… just barely,” Sasuke shook his head.

“As expected of the Sharingan,” Uzumaki Mina said, stepping in front of her teammates, balancing on the undulating water with no difficulty. “No one else has been able to guess Hibiki and Hazuki’s Kekkei Genkai ability as quickly, datteba,” she grinned. “Now I’m getting pumped up!”

“Suiton: Uzumaki’s Great Whirlpool jutsu!” she yelled and the water around Team 7 began to rise up in a spiral, blocking their view of everything.

“Any ideas?” Sasuke looked incredulously at the enormous mass of fast flowing water.

“Well... there’s one thing but it’s really stupid,” Naruto shrugged. “Take a deep breath!” he yelled.  “Suiryuudan no Jutsu!” he formed the handseals and at once, water erupted right under Team 7. Naruto’s feet were swept of the ground violently, but he focussed on rotating the water in the opposite direction than Mina’s whirlpool. At first, nothing happened and he was running short of breath, but then he felt the water around them calm down and collapse.

“Gaaah!” Sakura gasped, using water walking to crawl to the surface of the lowering water. The three of them were soaked to the skin.

“No one else has thought of that one before either, I’ll give you that,” Mina said before jumping back in line with her teammates.

“Annoying…” Sasuke muttered, his fists clenched. Naruto and Sakura both understood: fire jutsu was useless here and a lightning technique would fry them as well as their enemies so it was also not an option. Taijutsu with the twins was the Uchiha’s only way to fight, but they weren’t coming forth for another bout, instead of hiding behind the water user.

“We need to separate them,” Sakura said, looking at Naruto, who nodded. Running forward, he brought up his index finder for his favourite jutsu.

“Mizudeppo!” a stream of water shot towards Mina and the twins. The two didn’t need to dodge, merely letting the water phase through their bodies, but the girl did.

“Keep it up, dobe,” Sasuke said, jumping past him as Naruto concentrated on making the girl dodge away from her team.

“Uzumaki versus Uzumaki? I like the sound of that,” the girl grinned and surprised him by simply running up to him, admittedly at a surprising speed and attacking with taijutsu. Naruto dodged the first attack and was prepared to take the second, but that was his mistake. The punch was a lot stronger than he had expected from the girl and he was sure one of his ribs broke under the impact.

“My master is a taijutsu specialist. You should have done your research, datteba,” Mina went in for another punch but Naruto managed to dodge it.

In the audience, the two female Kages and the Kazekage were observing the battle with keen interest.

“This is a very high level battle for the Chuunin exam, Godaime-dono. Your Genin are most impressive,” the man said, nodding with respect to Tsunade, who was internally gloating over Naruto’s team’s skill level. Kakashi had really outdone himself.

“No more than Sound’s representative team,” she said with a glance at the Otokage. The woman was young for a Kage and had very pale, nearly sickly skin. She looked a lot like Tsunade’s old teammate – snake-like eyes, long black hair, except this woman’s was in several long braids tied with small blades on their ends. They moved seemingly independently, which was a fairly unsettling sight. Scales lined the woman’s cheekbones and wrists, no doubt an experiment of Orochimaru’s.

“My team is going to lose,” the Otokage finally spoke, her voice a lot softer and lower than Tsunade would have imagined.

“Why do you think so, Naga-dono?” the Kazekage questioned, to which she simply turned her head slightly.

“Mina is talented and the twins have a very powerful Kekkei Genkai, but they lack teamwork. She is too used to working with me specifically, while Hibiki and Hazuki always keep to themselves. Godaime-sama’s Team 7 moves as one being, confident that they can watch each other’s back... that is a rare thing and a privilege to witness,” Naga said after a moment, not once lifting her gaze from the battle, where Naruto was still on the defensive, dodging Mina’s powerful attacks. He could definitely take a few more of those punches and carry on fighting, but the pain was quite distracting. He needed some advantage…

“Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!” he yelled, creating two clones which immediately pulled him out of the way of another punch. Using his clones for a similar tactic to what the girl’s teammates did, he combined his attacks with those of his clones and managed to land a strong blow on her. The girl flew away and crashed into the trunk of a tree, but managed to stay atop the water still filling the stadium. He managed a quick glance at his own teammates before Mina got to her feet, but then wobbled and fell to her knees again.

“Good job, Sakura!” he shouted, recognising the girl’s favourite genjutsu. Still, his opponent managed to stand back up, although she looked quite disoriented. She raised her hands into a seal and shouted. “Fuiinjutsu: Gravity Seal Release!” after which she shot towards Naruto far faster than before. In that moment, he made use of the taijutsu technique his sensei had been trying to teach him for the first time. He saw her fist move and quickly moved just an inch to the left, simultaneously slamming his fist into her stomach. With the combined force of his punch and her speed, she coughed up blood and passed out right after. Naruto didn’t let her drown in the water though and merely put an arm around her prone form and moved towards his own team. There wasn’t anywhere safe to leave her and there was no point in killing an already disabled opponent.

Sasuke was still fighting the twins, but seemed to be steadily getting better at reading their movements. Sakura tossed him a soldier pill to keep going and proceeded to heal Naruto’s injuries.

“Shouldn’t we help?” he asked but she shook her head.

“He’s just playing with them. He figured out their attack pattern a while ago. Show off,” she sighed affectionately.

“We forfeit,” the twins eventually said, supporting each other and out of breath. “You can see our chakra deplete every time we phase.” “We are nearly spent and you have both of your team-mates still able to fight.”

“Winners, Team 7!” the Jonin announced, appearing beside them. “We’ll take a five minute break while the stadium is drained of water!” he announced. Naruto handed Mina over to the medics, but went with them as well, despite having his injuries mostly mended by Sakura. How come he was the only one always getting hurt?

“You’re good, datteba,” Mina opened her eyes a minute later, smiling at him. “Naga-sama is going to kick my ass later,” she whined, looking to her two teammates who were standing off to the side.

“Is that the.. Otokage?” Naruto questioned, sitting down while a medic checked over his recently broken rib. Sakura had fixed some of the damage, sure, but she wasn’t a specialist yet. He’d probably be very sore for a few days, but thankfully not weeks due to his fast healing factor.

“Yeah, she’s my..” Mina hesitated. “Teacher,” she finally said, face an obvious frown. “She found me when I was little and took care of me. I was going to make her proud today, for our village, too…”

“You fought incredibly well, dattebayo.” The word made her grin. “I seriously thought I was going to lose when you broke my rib and just didn’t stop punching. I’m sure your Kage will understand that.”

“Still… I think we could have won, but we were overconfident. In the forest, we took out ten teams without much trouble. I guess it got to our heads, heh,” Mina. “I’m sorry, you don’t need to deal with my whining, datteba.”

“It’s fine. You’re family. You know that, right?” Naruto grinned and she grinned back.

“Of course. That’s why I wanted to fight you without holding back, like true Uzumaki.”

“Do you... know much about our clan? I mean… I’ve got some family scrolls but I can’t open them no matter what I do,” Naruto risked asking.

“They’re probably opened with Fuuinjutsu, datteba. Our clan was well known for it and my mother taught me a bit when... before... before she passed away. But… no, I don’t think I know more than you. Naga-sama says she used to know another Uzumaki but apparently he’s kinda... _the leader of the Akatsuki_ which I obviously know _nothing_ about since it’s classified,” Mina laughed mirthlessly.

“What?” Naruto hissed, eyes bulging. “Kami...”

“Yeah don’t tell anyone I told you that.” The girl pleaded with a pout. “Anyway, he taught her the Great Whirlpool Jutsu and she taught me in turn. It seems to be a sort of rite of passage jutsu in our clan, from what she said he said,” Mina rolled her eyes.

“I always wanted to know more about my family, but if they turn out to be homicidal S-rank missing-nin...” Naruto sighed, massaging his neck awkwardly.

“Hey, don’t say that. I think there’s more of us out there, just scattered all over the place datteba. They can't all be bad.” She smiled at him. “I think the next match is starting,” she listened to the new wave of noise from the outside. “I might see you around. Don’t die out there until we bring back the Uzumaki name’s fame, alright,” she grinned and gave him a fist-bump.

“That’s a promise, dattebayo,” he replied and, being cleared by the medic-nin, left the room to hopefully catch the rest of Shino’s match. He was tempted to stay with Mina and ask her about her mother and about her life in Sound, wanting to find out more about the only other Uzumaki he knew, but stopped himself. She was a foreign ninja and would leave soon – she had her own life and her problems and he didn’t need to add to that.

In the arena, now emptied of water, Team 8 was fighting against a team from Suna. The foreign team seemed very skilled with wind jutsu and their teamwork was solid, but once Kiba broke through with his Gatsuuga, they didn’t stand much of a chance in close quarters. Without much of a show, Shino’s bugs drained their opponents of chakra and Team 8 were declared winners. A few rows down from where Naruto was standing, Tenten’s Hyuuga teammate was speaking to what looked like their clan leader and Hinata’s younger sister or perhaps another cousin.

“Hinata-sama is a capable shinobi, even though she does not show it often. She spars against me regularly, her Jyuuken is as powerful as mine and she has a creativity most Hyuuga lack,” Neji said to the little girl who soaked up every word. Naruto smiled, glad that Hinata hadn’t reverted to her old habit of pulling her strikes and throwing matches like she once did at the Academy.

Shino and his team returned, bruised from their fight but otherwise uninjured. Naruto hesitated, but then remembered his promise to Mina to bring fame to the Uzumaki name. He wasn’t a coward and he wouldn’t run.


	10. Dawn of War

“Can I speak with you, Shino-san?” he asked his friend, who looked almost startled. There was no escape though and Naruto would not be avoided any longer if he had anything to say about it.

“Of course,” Shino regained his composure and they stood a little while away from everyone else, by the wall, while Shikamaru, Ino, Chouji and the team of older Konoha Genin passed them on their way down for their match.

“I don’t know why you’re avoiding me… but if I did something wrong I’m sorry,” Naruto started hesitantly, trying to ease into the conversation he really wanted have.

“I’ve been busy. Why? My team was practicing for the Chuunin Exams,” Shino said, fixing his goggles back into place. Naruto glared.

“I’ve been to your house twice each week and not once did I see you. Coincidence? I think not, dattebayo. Anyway, I spoke to Mizuho-nee-san at the beginning of the month and she told me something quite… strange,” Naruto didn’t know quite what to call the whole revelation.

“Is this really the time and the place, Uzumaki-san?” Shino looked uncomfortable and ready to walk away again, but Naruto grasped his arm and stopped him.

“Well if you hadn’t been avoiding me, we wouldn’t be having this conversation _now,”_ he hissed and then saw Shino’s shoulders sag in defeat.

“She told me your whole family had just... assumed that I was your partner or something? What was that about, dattebayo,” Naruto questioned – calmly, not to frighten Shino. It wasn’t like he was angry or upset about it, just very confused.

“Indeed. I apologise if this has caused you any inconvenience, it was not my intention.”

“That doesn’t really answer my question,” Naruto didn’t let go of the eye contact, despite Shino’s goggles being in the way. He just knew Shino was looking _directly_ at him.

“When we were in the Academy, my father was already beginning to look at options for an arranged marriage for me. We were constantly at odds and I needed a way to make him understand that I was going to be only with the person I choose, like cousin Shouhei and Mizuho-nee-sama.” He paused for a moment. “Also like my... mother. He has forgotten her wishes to let me be free of the tradition. So I found the person he would approve of least, to show him my resolve. I was young then and easily led by my emotions. I apologise for my lack of foresignt, Uzumaki-san. Do not worry, my clan will eventually forget about this and you need not pay it any mind. It is in the past.”

Naruto felt… uncomfortable, hearing this explanation. The roars of the crowd washed over him, as if far away.

“So… you just used me to get back at your father?” the words tasted foul and a bitter disappointment filled the pit of his stomach.

“Do not misunderstand. Whatever mistakes I made, my friendship with you was genuine,” Shino shook his head, but Naruto still couldn’t quite believe it.

“So why the avoidance? Why never tell me anything?”

“I did not want to... worry you. You have been busy as well, with Sakura-san. I did not feel my presence was necessary.”

“What the fuck does Sakura have to do with anything, dattebayo? And don’t you think maybe I _wanted_ you around? You’re my best friend, Shino.” Naruto noticed he was still holding onto Shino’s arm far too tightly and let go at once.

“A couple requires time to spend by themselves...”

“Oh Kami,” Naruto groaned. “Please tell me you haven’t been avoiding me cause you thought I got together with her. That’d be too ironic for me to take. I’ve been avoiding her and Sasuke whenever they aren’t training for the same reason… They _are_ actually a couple, though. Dattebayo, my life is made up of stupid misunderstandings.” Naruto vaguely thought that now he understood why Gorou-sensei drank himself stupid sometimes. The prevalent thought in his mind, though, was that he was glad he could get his friend back now that the problem had been explained. Still, he couldn’t quite understand why Shino would take his supposed change in relationship status so seriously and avoid him for a whole month.

“You aren’t dating Sakura-san,” Shino stated again, as though slowly processing the information.

“Of course not. She’s a great friend but she’s not… I.. anyway she’s with Sasuke,” Naruto scratched his chin, thinking of a good response.

“I was under the assumption you’d been romantically interested in her since the Academy.”

“Well, yeahh... but that was ages ago. Honestly I got over it way before we even graduated. Anyway the better I got to know her the more I realised we’re a lot better off as friends, dattebayo.”

“I…see. I apologise for my misunderstanding, Uzumaki-san,” Shino gave a little apologetic bow which Naruto waved off.

“Forget it, it’s cool. So.. we’re good now?” he grinned and the Aburame nodded. Naruto wanted to hug him, glad to have his friend back. “Why so interested anyway? I didn’t think you cared about other people’s relationships. Or have you found someone you like and that’s why you’re turning down all the arranged marriage offers?” he laughed, but Shino seemed serious again all of a sudden.

“I was never _not_ interested… however more important matters have taken precedence in my life. Why? Because staying alive as a shinobi is more important than interpersonal relationships.”

Naruto mentally slapped himself, remembering how he’d once said the same thing to Sakura.

“Sooo..? You didn’t deny that there was someone?”

Shino _fidgeted._

“I…” he started, but Naruto never heard the rest because a unit of ANBU then jumped down from the roof and rushed to the Hokage, causing a commotion amongst the roaring crowd. Something was going on. Tsunade stood up and immediately, everything in the arena went still, but Team 10’s struggle against the vastly more skilled and experienced Team 5.

“Sunagakure is under attack! All Suna Genin, report to your Jonin-sensei. Konoha squads 8, 9, 5, report to my office, now!” Tsunade’s voice boomed and panic broke out everywhere. Naruto’s blood ran cold. Shino was in Team 8 and this could only mean one thing... they were being sent to Suna as reinforcements. He grasped Shino’s arm again and looked into his shielded eyes.

“Come back alive,” he said.

“Naruto. I will.” Shino then left, following the rest of his squad across the rooftops.

It was illogical, to make such a promise, Naruto thought. But he believed Shino would do everything in his power to return to him.

*

“This cannot wait any longer,” Tsunade said, pacing in her office while Team 7 looked on in silence. “I would have sent you four to Suna instead of three other teams but I need you to find Jiraya and I don’t trust anyone else to do it nor do I think anyone else could actually do it. He’s an idiot but he is my teammate and a Sannin, if he doesn’t want to be found, it won’t be easy.” She sighed.

“Ano… Aunt Tsunade? Why isn’t he in the village in the first place?” Naruto asked uncertainly, trying to get a bearing on what a man who is her teammate might be like. Sure, he’d read about him a lot – he was hailed as a seal master, sage and a fearsome ninjutsu specialist, but that didn’t explain why he’d been all but missing for the last fourteen years.

“After Minato…the Yondaime, his student, died he left the village. He said it reminded him too much of his student who he cared for like a son. Of course, I understood, I had left the village for a time after Dan died as well, but Jiraya, unlike me, doesn’t seem to have any intention of coming back. I’m sure he still cares about the village – he always sends me messages with important information he comes across, but I need him here to fight if the Akatsuki bring the war to us.” Tsunade finally sat down, arms folded across her chest. “He’s probably just drinking himself to death out there. I want you to find him and bring him back by any means necessary.”

“Hai!”

“Also, if you manage to complete this mission, I’m promoting you three to Chuunin. You did exceptionally well in the exam, you’ve more than earned it.”

Kakashi looked a little put out at that, having really become attached to his Genin, but was very proud of them too. Very few Genin passed the Exam in one try and all three of his managed it – it was practically unheard of.

*

Finding Jiraiya, however, proved far more difficult than any of them had expected. Three months into their mission and they had been all over the Land of Rivers and the Land of Stone and were currently in the Land of Stars, following the crumb trail of brothel visits Jiraiya left everywhere he went. That was quite awkward for the teens at first, but it quickly became apparent that most of those people were terrified of Shinobi and without the promise of a large sum of money to motivate them, they would go to great lengths to avoid them. Some of the girls working there made fluttery eyes at Sasuke or Naruto sometimes, but neither was particularly bothered by it. Sasuke was used to ignoring fangirls and hence immune to such a fake act, while Naruto was impatient and frustrated about how they _were stuck looking for some old pervert instead of fighting alongside their friends in Suna._ That kind of put a big dampener on his mood and he wasn’t very nice to anyone who unnecessarily bothered him.

Jiraiya clearly knew he was being followed because he never stayed in one place for very long. A Sannin who didn’t want to be found would not be so easily caught.

When they weren’t actively in pursuit of the wayward Sannin, they spent the rest of the time training intensively. Kakashi insisted that Naruto, as a ninjutsu-type, needed to learn at least a few more techniques while Sakura needed to level-up her kenjutsu and medic training. Sasuke went at his own pace, now beginning elemental manipulation for his secondary element and tinkering with his own fire and lightning jutsu.

“Ne... sensei. Jiraiya is a seal master, isn’t he?” Naruto asked his sensei over dinner one night.

“Yes, he taught my sensei – the Yondaime. Why?” Kakashi seemed interested – his one showing eye widened a bit.

“Well, I’ve got these Uzumaki scrolls that Aunt Tsunade gave me, but I can’t open them, dattebayo.” The blond pouted, annoyed that they were no closer to finding the man than to inventing solid clones.

“Maa, you should have asked. I’m quite proficient at Fuuinjutsu myself,” his teacher eye-smiled and Naruto vaulted up in the air with excitement. He’d been bored senseless over the last few days and it was making him miss Konoha that much more, he needed something to do.

Learning the Uzumaki techniques came easily enough to him – there were two in one scroll and advanced fuuinjutsu texts in the other. The Great Whirlpool jutsu that Mina had used on them was there as well as another one, which trapped an enemy in a water prison. Kakashi seemed quite interested in that, because apparently it was a technique recently popular with shinobi from Kirigakure – they must have got hold of an Uzumaki or one of their scrolls, somehow. Naruto learned both without too much trouble and even made a start on some Fuuinjutsu, but so far it was pretty much gibberish to him. His sensei did say it was a rather esoteric art that not many understood very well, but he was determined to master it eventually one way or another.

The general atmosphere of Team 7 recently had been… unpleasant. Sasuke and Sakura were sort of secretive, doing their own little couple things while Naruto avoided them and stewed in his own bad, homesick mood.

He couldn’t help but think about all his friends who had been sent in Suna – they couldn’t receive information easily while hopping between countries to find Jiraya and there was no way to know if they had returned yet, if anyone had died or been hurt or if the fighting had gotten worse instead? Shino was somewhere out there… Naruto missed him. The thought was constantly buzzing in his mind like a persistent insect. At nights every conversation he’d had with his friend would play out in his mind and he’d cling onto every word. Especially what he’d said just before he left under Tsunade’s orders. He’d said Naruto’s name, for the first time ever. It seemed significant somehow, giving weight to the promise he made.

In dreams, his mind floated to the times they spent studying together in the Academy, simply relaxing in the sun or sparring, discovering Naruto’s water chakra… the strange, fascinating punctures in Shino’s skin…

He wanted to see his friend and figure out what all those feelings meant.

*

In the end, finding Jiraiya turned out to be pure luck. Team 7, having ventured into the Land of Fire to gather some more up-to-date information about the situation in Suna at Naruto’s insistence, were currently in Tanzaku Gai. It was a much more lively place than the towns they’d been staying in recently, so the Genin and even Kakashi were enjoying a change of pace. Sasuke and Sakura took a few hours to go on a date or something, while their sensei was gathering information and Naruto was trying out the local ramen. Not as good as Ichiraku’s.

Then, he heard it. Loud, obnoxious laughter of an older man, followed by the giggling of several women.

“Now, now, Kiriko-chan, there’s plenty more where that came from.”

Naruto turned around, lifting the screen of the ramen stand and saw Jiraiya of the Sannin, exactly as described in the books: a mane of long white hair, red markings under his eyes and a lecherous grin plastered on his face.

He sent a clone to find Kakashi-sensei and the others, before paying for his food and following their target as carefully as possible, blending in with the crowd. It was lucky he wasn’t wearing his forehead protector, it would have been painfully noticeable.

*

They cornered him on the spot, surrounded by many, many girls with money stuffed in their bras and skirt elastics. At least here he probably wouldn’t start a fight.

“Jiraiya-sama, the Godaime requests you to return to the village,” Kakashi said to the man, who although for appearances totally sloshed, had a pretty sober glint in his eye.

“Hmph. Why would I want to go back?” Jiraiya’s lecherous grin vanished and his lips formed a thin line. “Right, Anri-san?” he pinched the woman on his right on the butt, grinning again. Team 7 simultaneously sighed.

“Jiraiya-sama, we must insist. You will be branded a missing-nin if you do not return with us,” Naruto reasoned, but the man just ignored him.

“What do we do, sensei?” Sakura asked Kakashi who looked thoughtful for a moment.

“We follow him around until he agrees,” he eye-smiled.

“Kid, you know why I can’t go back,” Jiraiya said to him then, gulping down another drink. “Minato was your sensei, I’m sure you understand.”

“It’s because he was my sensei, I understand that we need to bring you back, Jiraiya-sama,” Kakashi didn’t relent.

“Well tough luck. Here, I can manage my spy network, focus on writing my book and I’m free to spend as much time around girls as I want. Besides, Tsunade would never brand me a missing nin, haha.”

“Our friends are dying out there, but you want to waste all your money and drink.  Some Sannin you are, dattebayo,” Naruto frowned and folded his arms across his chest. Jiraiya pointed an accusatory finger at him.

“Don’t think I don’t know why Tsunade chose you for the job. The answer is still no,” he said at which Naruto raised an eyebrow but didn’t have a clue what that was supposed to mean.

“Maa.. looks like we’re in this for the long haul,” Kakashi sighed and took out his book. They’d stick to Jiraiya and make him come back whether he liked it or not.

*

Following Jiraiya’s every step proved for the most part, very testing on their patience. He did almost nothing but get drunk and then complain when he was hung over. That and every now again he’d attempt to sneak away from them so they couldn’t even train in the meantime. Also, having four people following him everywhere did rather spoil the Sannin’s favourite pastimes so he was constantly in a bad mood with them. Naruto wondered why he didn’t just knock them all out and skip town, surely a ninja of his caliber could do that without much effort.

Over the course of the week, Naruto had prodded the Sannin for some Fuuinjutsu tips and eventually, after much grumbling and complaining, he agreed. Once the Uzumaki got the basics down 100%, it was like everything about sealing suddenly made sense to him, and he then delved into the study of the subject head-first.

So far he could only make two very basic seals, but he swore to learn to create his own as soon as possible.

*

“I’m meeting my Akatsuki contact today,” Jiraiya said, pouting. “You’ll have to at least leave me long enough for that.”

Kakashi shook his head.

“We’ve already had the pleasure of meeting with Orochimaru ourselves. I’m sure he won’t mind,” he eye-smiled much to the Sannin’s disappointment.

As it was, Orochimaru didn’t appear particularly phased by their presence. Jiraiya bemoaned his sad fate of oppression by spoiled, rude Genin to his friend after which they discussed some secret thing or other in hushed voices. Out of respect, neither Kakashi nor Naruto eavesdropped with their chakra enhanced senses, tempting as it was.

What neither of them knew was that someone else _was_ listening to the private conversation. Head emerging from the ground slowly, the black and white creature from Takigakure appeared before them – _Zetsu._

“ **Orochimaru has betrayed us.”** “Silly snake should have kept it’s head buried in the sand~!” the two halves of his body spoke and the two Sannin were instantly on guard, but too late. A small dart-like thorn shot out of Zetsu’s hand and latched onto Jiraiya’s neck, making him fall to the ground. Four more were flying towards Team 7, but Sasuke had his Sharingan activated and knocked them out of the air with his kunai.

“Good job Sasuke,” Naruto grinned and all of them got ready to fight.

“If you’re going to interfere, make yourselves useful and move him out of the way,” Orochimaru pointed at Jiraiya, who was beginning to lose consciousness. “Zetsu. I’ll have you die now.”

“Even if you kill me, Leader-sama will know you have betrayed us,” the creature’s white half said.

“We will see about that,” Orochimaru took out his sword, Kusanagi and immediately went on the offensive. Zetsu’s white clones emerged from the ground then, going for Team 7 and Jiraiya.

“Naruto! Sakura! Stay back. I want to try something,” Sasuke stepped forward, Sharingan eyes blazing.

“Kannon-Hanketsu ( _Merciful Goddess’ Judgement_ )!”

The clones stopped in their tracks and the Uchiha jumped around them, knife slashing through their bodies with ease. Within just a few seconds, all of them were dead at his feet.

“Woah, dattebayo,” Naruto blinked, amazed. “What was that?”

“Later, dobe. We’ve still got the big guy to worry about.”  Sasuke smirked at him.

“Why aren’t you running? Just leave me,” Jiraiya said, forcing the words out, slurring. Whatever was in that dart, it was working well. If he’d been alone, Legendary Sannin or no, he’d be dead.

“You’re our mission. We’re not leaving now,” Sakura said with conviction and rolled up the sleeves of her shirt. “We’ll provide support for Orochimaru-sama. There is a technique I would like to try out as well.”

“Oh?” Kakashi seemed interested. “Just don’t get too close. We’d only be in the way.”

“Not a problem,” Sakura narrowed her eyes in concentration and extended both her arms. Strings of chakra shot out of her fingertips and she manipulated them in and out of Zetsu’s wood attacks, then buried them into his body, effectively restraining his movements.

“Chakra Stitches,” Kakashi said to Sasuke and Naruto. “Not really a combat technique and ultimately useless against many Konoha clans like the Aburame, Uchiha or the Hyuuga. Impressive, though,” he eye-smiled at his female student who beamed with pride.

While they talked, Orochimaru pierced Zetsu with his Kusanagi. The plant-man fell apart then, each half on one side, trying to re-form.

“Katon: Housenka,” the Snake Sannin said dispassionately and watched the mutilated body burn to ashes.

“Orochimaru-sama,” Team 7 approached and he sealed his sword away again.

“Impressive,” he said, eyeing the sole kunoichi among them with interest. “And... the Sharingan. I would have liked to take your eyes for myself but...” he never finished the thought.

“Ano.. won’t this kinda get you in trouble with the Akatsuki, dattebayo? Er... Orochimaru-sama,” Naruto asked, scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment.

“Surely, should they ever find out that Zetsu is in fact dead. However for me, reanimating a corpse is not impossible,” Orochimaru unsealed a vial from a scroll and scooped up the remains of Zetsu’s body into it. Team 7 was both curious and slightly disgusted, but none of them showed it. “You should take Jiraiya to Tsunade as soon as possible. The substance Zetsu secretes causes muscles to atrophy, he probably won’t very long at this rate.”

Sakura looked heartbroken that her level of medical ninjutsu could do nothing to help in this situation.

“You’re wasting time,” Orochimaru drawled.

Team 7 didn’t need to be told twice.

*

“So what was that back there, Sasuke?” Naruto asked as they ran back to Konoha. Kakashi was carrying Jiraiya on his back, which would have looked funny considering how much larger the man was than him, in any other situation.

“My new technique. The Sharingan can manifest in unique ways in certain members of my clan and also is capable of being used for genjutsu to great effect. My cousin Shisui, for example, had a genjutsu which could rewrite a person’s memory to the point where they could commit treason or kill their loved ones, thinking it was their own decision,” Sasuke explained with a sort of far-away look on his face. He had liked Shisui… but then Itachi killed him.

“Kotoamatsukami?” Sakura joined in, interested. He nodded.

“My brother… also has a unique genjutsu. Tsukuyomi, in which he controls space and time. A second in the real world could be a day of torture in the illusion.”

Both Naruto and Sakura knew just how difficult it was for him to speak about his brother and both appreciated just how far Sasuke had come from being a brooding kid who hurt his teammates on a whim.

“My ability is different than either of these two. I have been experimenting with it for a while… It can stop a person’s perception of time altogether, but I can only hold it for about three seconds, just now. I think I’ll be able to increase it with practice,” the Uchiha explained to his fascinated audience. "It does have some drawbacks, though..."

“That’s kinda amazing, teme,” Naruto grinned. “Please never use it on me.”

Sasuke gave him an icy stare. He didn’t take kindly to being reminded about how he’d set a classmate _on fire_ and also nearly broken his girlfriend’s arm. He would never hurt a friend again.

“Let’s hurry up,” he muttered at the blonde and picked up the pace.

*

When they arrived, Tsunade immediately took Jiraiya into surgery, and Sakura went along with her to observe the procedure. During the several long hours, Naruto wandered though the village, not allowed to go home and rest until they’d been debriefed on their mission. He was surprised to find that Mina and her team from Oto were at Ichiraku’s. She had devoured an impressive amount of ramen already, judging by the stack of bowls in front of her and grinned when she saw him.

“What are you guys doing here?” Naruto asked curiously and ordered himself a few bowls as well, sitting down beside his relative.

“Well, Naga-sama lent us to your Hokage until your other teams get back from Suna. We’ve been doing all sorts of missions around here,” Mina explained cheerfully but her expression was sour.

“You don’t like it here?” Naruto frowned.

“It’s not that. It’s a lot more lively than Sound and that’s pretty awesome, datteba, but.. I just wish Naga-sama hadn’t ditched us. She’s the Otokage... _I know_ , but she’s also my teacher, my best friend and my only family. I miss her,” the girl said sadly and Naruto understood exactly what she meant.

They spoke a little about Uzumaki jutsu and sealing and a bit about Naruto’s travels while looking for Jiraiya. Mina then talked about what life in the Sound village was like – about how Orochimaru had liberated it from a corrupted Lord who hoarded all the country’s gold, but then he conducted experiments on children and people with Kekkei Genkai, until Naga-sama drove him out and took the title of the Second Otokage.

“And… you’re not even listening to me are you?” Mina laughed, pinching him on the cheek. “Whoever you’re thinking about so hard, you should go see them. You’ve got this sad puppy in love look, it’s a bit pathetic actually.”

Naruto made an indignant sort of yelping noise.

“I’m not in love and I’m not a sad puppy,” he pouted.

“You can’t fool me, datteba. A woman knows this sort of thing, even if you don’t realise it yourself.” She smiled then, genuinely. “Naga-sama once told me… that to be a good shinobi and not become consumed by the despair of this world, a person needs to be filled with love first.”

“What does that even mean, dattebayo,” the blond frowned, scratching the whisker marks on his cheek where she had just pinched him.

“It took me a while to figure it out as well,” Mina whispered conspirationally before jumping off her chair. “I’ll see you around, Uzumaki!”

They waved each other goodbye, the twins nodded mutely at Naruto with some measure of respect and then went their separate ways.

*

Jiraiya was conscious amazingly soon after the procedure to remove the poison from his body and revert the damage done to his muscles. Tsunade sat weakly in a chair nearby while Team 7 looked on.

“Naruto,” the Sannin said tiredly and the teen stepped forward. “Thank you for saving me, you three,” he looked at each of the Genin who stood up to an S-rank criminal to protect him. “I'm sorry, Naruto. You reminded me of Minato so much I couldn’t bear to look at you… but you’re not like him at all. You’re your own person and I failed to realise that,” he coughed, running short of breath.

“Maa…That’s what I tried to tell you…” Kakashi muttered to no-one in particular.

“Minato was like a son to me. He was smart and kind and an amazing student… You’re not smart and it takes you a long time to figure out jutsu… and you’re a sarcastic little shit sometimes, heh. But... if you were to be Hokage one day... it wouldn’t be so bad,” he attempted to grin, but the muscles in his face weren’t really cooperating. “I’ll stay in the village and do what I can.”

Tsunade smiled tiredly at them both, before getting to her feet slowly. Chakra exhaustion could wait a little longer.

“The information Orochimaru got for us was very important. When Suna was attacked, a pair of S rank missing-nin unleashed the Ichibi in the village. Thanks to Elder Chiyo, one of the advisors of the Kazekage, the beast was sealed into a new host. Now, the Akatsuki _could_ have attacked again and kidnapped the baby that was used for the sealing, but apparently they’ve had a series of internal disputes which has left the group divided and for now, they are going to wait. This gives us time to train up all our ninja the best we can, prepare evacuation plans for possible bijuu attaks… according to Orochimaru, we should have two or three years before Akatsuki will be fully operational again. They’ve lost a bijuu and two members, so I’m inclined to believe it. We have your team to thank for receiving this information, Kakashi. They’ve more than earned their promotions,” she said, looking over the three Genin proudly.

“You can pick up your Chuunin vests tomorrow. Normally, you’d be introduced to your new duties in the month after promotion, but I’d like you four to remain a unit for now. Not as Team 7, but as Team Kakashi.”

There was a minute intake of air from their sensei before all four nodded and saluted their Hokage. Over their time together, Team 7 had become like a family, living together, training and fighting together, it would have been too cruel to break apart so soon.

“The village will need you when Akatsuki attacks next. It might not be in Konoha or even in our Country, but this war is far bigger than that. While you were away a Kage Summit took place and a new Shinobi Alliance formed. Even one stolen Bijuu would have been a colossal threat, but the enemy have five. This isn’t a battle that can be won by ordinary shinobi. So train and become the walls that defend Konoha. Become _strong_ ,” Tsunade said, eyes bright with determination. The three new Chuunin were nervous, but proud and ready to fight tooth and nail to protect their home if they had to.

*

They were summoned to the Godaime’s office again the next day, much to their surprise. They had collected their Chuunin vests already, so they had no idea why they were required there again so soon. Surely, they wouldn’t be sent out on a mission just a day after returning from nearly half a year abroad?

They were most surprised when the Sandaime was present in Tsunade’s office, no longer dressed in the familiar Hokage garb. He looked younger somehow, than he had when they had seen him last – when he resigned from office.

“Congratulations, Kakashi. You have raised three fine shinobi,” the old man said with a kindly smile, before a ghost of old pain passed over his face.

“However, I did not have Tsunade call you here to celebrate. As was agreed a long time ago – there are matters which need to be revealed to your student, Uchiha Sasuke, when he became a Chuunin.”

The raven haired teen looked startled at that.

“Would you like us to go?” Sakura asked him softly, hesitating. He shook his head sharply.

“Very well,” the Sandaime leaned back in his chair. “This matter is an SS-rank secret known until now only to myself, Shimura Danzo and Uchiha Itachi.”

 


	11. Silence in the Moonlight

“This matter is an SS-rank secret known until now only to myself, Shimura Danzo and Uchiha Itachi.”

At this, Sasuke visibly stiffened but listened intently.

“During the year leading up to the Uchiha Incident, there was a lot of unrest between the clan and other figureheads of Konoha. Urged by the perceived injustice done to his clan… Uchiha Fugaku nearly staged a coup’d’etat to remove me from office and take their power back. Despite numerous attempts on my part to reach a diplomatic solution, the damage to the trust between your clan and the Hokage seemed irreversible. That was when young Itachi met Shimura Danzo, my old classmate and the leader of ANBU’s Root, a… more radical branch under his direct control. I have never approved of his methods and I have on numerous occasions attempted to put a stop to his operations. He was always prejudiced against the Uchiha – he saw their usefulness but also wanted them as his pawns. When they rebelled, he incited Itachi to take direct action… and you know what happened,” the Sandaime sighed, while Sasuke was positively vibrating on the spot, eyes open so wide they might pop.

“That night, your brother appeared before Danzo, my advisors and I to warn us that should we let harm come to you or let you know of what happened before you were strong enough… he would reveal all of Konoha’s secrets to our enemies. By then… it was already too late.”

“I..nii-san… I need to be alone,” Sasuke choked out, hands clenched tight into fists, shoulders set tensely.

“Sasuke-kun…” Sakura watched him turn and leave, a tearful expression on her face.

Kakashi looked quite shocked as well.

“I knew Itachi in the ANBU… he was a very gentle person, despite how good a ninja he was. I didn’t want to believe it when he defected and killed his whole clan…” he mumbled. “So he’s also a spy in the Akatsuki?”

“Yes, however that was never my intention. He didn’t know that Orochimaru was already working undercover for me at the time and I doubt they have ever shared their true affiliation with each other. In the limited sense of the word that Orochimaru understands it...”

All that time, Tsunade looked on in silence, disapproving of the mistakes her Sensei had made but not willing to speak out about it. Hiruzen Sarutobi had been a Hokage for far longer than anyone else in the Elemental Nations and she would not disrespect that.

Naruto seemed entirely withdrawn into himself while Sakura glanced towards the door, anxious to go after Sasuke. But they both knew, he needed time to figure things out for himself.

*

Sasuke was on his way out of the village, in the dead of night. Only moonlight illuminated the streets.

“Sasuke-kun…” Sakura’s voice caught him off guard. “Please don’t go.”

“Why should I stay in the village that betrayed my clan and betrayed my brother? If I ever see that Danzou, I’ll just want to kill him.” Sasuke glared at her, but she didn’t even flinch.

“Because you have Naruto, Kakashi-sensei and me here. Because Itachi wanted you in Konoha, safe and leading the Uchiha to a better future. Because Danzou is just one man and we’re a strong team. We can take him down, if not by force then by law or blackmail if we must. Because I love you and want you to stay. Please,” she said with utter conviction, but her eyes were pleading. Sasuke was startled, she nearly never spoke against him, but now she stood her ground, unwavering.

“Sakura…” he gazed at the once-fangirl who had proven his presumptions wrong every time, who was strong and smart and caring at the same time. The girl who he had, despite everything, fallen in love with over their time on Team 7. She had come so far in such a short time, while he felt like he was still running in circles trying to catch the end of Itachi’s shadow.

Maybe… it was finally time to stop and take charge of his own future for once.

Arms gently placed on Sakura’s waist pulled her close and then, he kissed her, for the first time truly meaning it. Her hair shone in the pale light of the moon, beautiful.

*

Things went back to… almost normal after that. Sasuke didn’t seem quite the same, but he worked with the team far better than before. They trained together, ate together and only parted for a few hours of rest each night. Naruto took comfort in almost having a family, however fake and temporary it might be, but he also missed Shino terribly. His team was still away in Suna, apparently having earned promotions in the field and been requested specifically by the Kazekage for tracking and scouting missions.

Team 7 was, for all intents and purposes, confined to the village for the time being. They were the heavy hitters among the younger shinobi and Tsunade wanted them on-hand if anything should happen. So they trained till exhaustion and piled a frankly offensive number of short-term C and B rank missions within the Fire Country on their record. Killing became a routine, failure not an option.

Jiraiya seemed interested in their training too, despite denying it at every turn so he hovered around their usual training grounds sometimes with some excuse or other, giving Naruto pointers on sealing or helping with Sasuke’s fire jutsu. Sakura’s kenjutsu was coming along well too, with Kakashi’s help. Using his Sharingan to spar with her caused her own reaction times and accuracy to skyrocket, though she wasn’t a natural taijutsu user like Sasuke or even Naruto, who had exceptional endurance and strength. The sword complimented her movements well, extending her reach. While Kakashi wasn’t a Kenjutsu expert, he was more than proficient with the use of medium length and short blades and taught her everything he knew.

Halfway through July, Kakashi was requested specifically for a high-ranking mission and the three Chuunin were left mostly to their own devices. Naruto still committed most of his free time to chakra control and water manipulation training, having now reached a frightening proficiency with it, able to use all of his water jutsu without handeals. The use of Kage Bunshin had nearly tripled his already enormous chakra reserves while also fine-tuning his control. Jiraiya had been amazed when he found about Naruto’s use of it in training and pointed out that he only knew of a few ninja who would be capable of something like that – it put an enormous strain on the mind and the body, but Naruto so far seemed fine. Kakashi had warned him of the side effects – a distorted sense of time, technically living several days at once, but he didn’t have much trouble with compartmentalizing all the information from his clones. It might have been an Uzumaki trait – an amazing health of the mind and the body, but he didn’t really know.

When he wasn’t training though, he spent some time with Tenten, who had returned from Suna some time ago. Their friendship flourished again, though it would never be quite the same as before. Naruto knew that she understood how he felt though, waiting to see someone indefinitely, someone who was far away. She exchanged mail with Temari frequently and was most shocked when a letter she received one particular morning stated that her girlfriend had adopted the new Ichibi Jinchuuriki. Apparently, feeling that she had failed her little brother who had been the previous container, she felt an attachment to the orphaned child immediately. Being the Kazekage’s daughter and a very powerful Kunoichi, she didn’t have much trouble with adopting him. Tenten stared at the letter, eyes open wide. Naruto hugged her and she cried into his shoulder for a long time, scared and worried but also kind of overwhelmed, because Temari wanted her to be a part of the child’s life, to be a family together with her. Naruto was secretly a little jealous at the thought of the girl who used to be like him, now happy and with a family of her own, but contained those thoughts quickly. He was happy for her, but it made what seemed to be missing in his own life that much more noticeable at the same time.

He was beginning to feel the weight of living as a shinobi pile down on him, a little more every day. Taking lives, hearing of young ninja dying in the field, the threat of outright war continuing to loom on the horizon… it was a constant reminder that a shinobi’s life meant being always surrounded by blood and death. Tenten was happy now, but there was no telling if Temari or the child would not be killed by Akatsuki without her being able to do anything about it. The same went for every one of their friends.

These thoughts continued to plague him and when Kakashi returned from his mission, he immediately noticed something was wrong. Naruto, reluctantly, confided in his Sensei, who understood, probably better than anyone.

“A young man I once met on a mission told me this: shinobi become truly strong when they have someone or something they wish to protect. He was young, younger than you are now and he already understood true strength far better than I did back then. My team-mates and sensei achieved true strength to do what was necessary because they had something to protect. That powerful will is why Konoha is so strong today. The entire village is like a large family and every Konoha shinobi with the Will of Fire loves, believes, cherishes, and fights to protect it, as those who died before us did. My team-mate, Obito… gave me this eye before he died,” Kakashi tapped the headband covering his Sharingan lightly. “And he continues to give me the strength to protect the village he died to save. Do you understand?”

“I… think so. If we fight to protect each other and the village… we gain the strength to carry on, despite everything.” Naruto thought of all his friends, who went out into the world for dangerous missions… and of everyone in the village, depending on the shinobi to keep them safe. If all the killing and fighting had to continue… at least he could do it knowing his actions were protecting people. Knowing that his strength brought peace and safety to those who couldn’t protect themselves was quite reassuring. Maybe that’s what being Hokage was, making difficult decisions and having to live with them afterwards…

He was startled out of his thoughts by the arrival of Sakura and Sasuke at the training ground. If they’d overheard the conversation between him and Kakashi-sensei, neither of them let it show. The pink haired girl had a wide smile on her face.

“Team 8 is due back today,” she said to Naruto, who immediately perked up at the thought. “I overheard Izumo and Kotetsu at the village gates.”

The blond was torn, not willing to neglect his training but also dying to see his friend and make sure that he was okay. …Hinata, too.

“Hurry up and get going,” Sakura nudged him and after only one more moment of hesitation, he swapped with one of his Kage Bunshin while Kakashi wasn’t looking. At least he wasn’t ditching training altogether…

*

Turned out, he had rushed there for nothing, because they weren’t back _yet._ After hovering around the gate for about three hours, he finally decided to go get something to eat, because waiting in the ungodly heat of the sun was making him very tired. Unfortunately, that was exactly when Team 8 returned and practically walked right past him. He didn’t realise until Izumo and Kotetsu pointed it out about forty minutes later, after he’d returned to pace impatiently around the gate. He rushed to the Hokage Tower, where they would probably be and wasn’t disappointed, when twenty minutes later Team 8 emerged and split up after saying goodbye to each other. Everyone looked in good health, but tired. Then he couldn’t wait any longer and ran up to his friend.

“Shino!” he momentarily forgot everything and hugged his friend, ecstatic to see him again. Shino stiffened, unused to much physical contact and much less to being... embraced so tightly. Naruto realised what he was doing after a second though and pulled back at once, embarrassed.

“Sorry, I’m just glad to see you,” he mumbled, not looking at Shino.

“It is... fine,” the other boy said after regaining his composure. The blond’s heart was pounding wildly in his chest. He’d missed being around Shino even more than he’d realised. Feeling very self-conscious all of a sudden, he immediately launched into questioning his friend about Team 8’s missions and the time spent in Suna.

“What was it like there? Did you fight much?” he asked curiously, trying to suppress his embarrassment as much as possible. Shino didn’t seem to have minded that... too much.

“We were not on the front lines against the Ichibi, however we were relatively close to the fighting, delivering information between different squads and helping the wounded. Why? Our squad is far better suited for ambush tactics, tracking and support. Additionally, Hinata and I both have knowledge of basic medical ninjutsu, which is very rare in the Wind Country. As for your first question… destruction caused by the attack aside, there is not much to tell of. Their climate is dry and hot, not favourable for Konoha shinobi or insects. My Kikaichu were agitated most of the time.”

Naruto laughed, walking alongside him in the vague direction of the Aburame residence.

“I meant more like their culture and ninjas, dattebayo. Makes sense you’d just pay attention to the lack of insects, haha.”

“… How have you been, then?” Shino redirected the topic, fixing the goggles on his nose.

“Well, we were out of the Fire country most of the time, looking for Jiraiya the Toad Sannin. Helped Orochimaru kill another S-rank criminal… now we’re just training. I’ve been learning Fuuinjutsu, it’s fascinating,” Naruto chatted happily, feeling like everything was alright again. Just by being with Shino, all the dark, heavy thoughts that had been hanging about him for months and months seemed to fade away. Then he remembered something… that Mina said to him, when he met with her last. _To be a good shinobi and not become consumed by the despair of this world, a person needs to be filled with love first._

He had been distracted and worried, failing under the burden of guilt and fear, but now… he felt ready to take on anything. Being with Shino was like… walking on a clear, calm lake in the sunlight.

“Uzumaki-san, are you alright?” Shino questioned. Naruto hadn’t realised he had stopped mid-sentence and nearly forgotten how to breathe.

“Yeah, dattebayo,” he forced out the words all too quickly. _He was in love with his best friend._ It suddenly made so much more sense to miss him so fiercely every day, to recall each conversation so vividly and to miss even the smallest touch. Mina’s making fun of him and Sakura’s subtle nudging suddenly became obvious as well. Just how long had he been mentally walking in circles around this feeling, not realising what should have been crystal clear?

“I’m fine,” he reassured Shino, falling into step with him again. Now he was conscious of every movement the other young man made, of the way the sun reflected in his goggles and of how his eyebrows creased with worry over Naruto’s behaviour.

“Actually, no, I don’t think I’m feeling to well,” he backtracked at once, a new feeling of panic creeping in now that the initial realisation had settled in. _He was in love with his best friend!_

Shino looked puzzled but Naruto was already retreating, his hands – his whole body, shaking.

*

Once the adrenaline ran out, he regretted leaving Shino alone like that, but it was too late to take it back now. This didn’t really change things too much, if he could just control his mouth for a while until he could figure everything out for himself. It would be easy, right? It turned out, it wasn’t. He didn’t want to push his friend away with his awkward behaviour, but he couldn’t as well ignore him – not that he could force himself to stay away. Now that he knew what the strange, pulling feeling was that made him miss Shino so much, it seemed to intensify at least tenfold. He wanted to talk to him, train with him, touch him, kiss him… be with him. All the time. This made spending time with his friend complicated, to say at least. Naruto would sneak out of training every other day to meet with him, full of excitement and trepidation at the same time. “ _So close and yet so far_ ” he thought constantly, angry at himself and at the universe for making everything so difficult and confusing. Whenever she saw him, Sakura gave him sort of sympathetic looks, which he didn’t really appreciate. After a few days, then weeks, the anger too dissipated and he finally accepted that what he was feeling wasn’t going to change and that he was just making things difficult for himself. It wasn’t the universe’s fault he was too scared to do anything about the situation.

Still, he wasn’t about to complain about how much time he was spending with Shino again. Since they had graduated, over a year ago now, they had both been insanely busy. It was nice to find some time to just relax together like they used to and despite the quiet suffering the distance between them brought him, Naruto was quite happy. If only he hadn’t developed such a keen interest in what was under the collar oh Shino’s jacket, trying to catch a glimpse every time he spoke… then ignoring his feelings might have been a lot easier.

When he was younger, of course he used to think about kissing Sakura, but it was a sort of childish, giddy excitement that he felt then. Now, just imagining what kissing Shino might be like had so many other implications, he couldn’t control that he suddenly felt hot and breathless and _desperate._ It was annoying, getting so easily flustered, but it was like his whole body had been waiting for a chance to throw all these hormones at him in the least opportune moment.

He needed something to take his mind off this… and such a distraction came in the form of a new mission.

*

“The Otokage has requested the three of you specifically,” Tsunade said, hands locked together under her chin, thoughtfully.

“What sort of mission is it going to be?” Naruto questioned curiously.

“She did not specify,” the Godaime quipped with an unhappy frown. “However I am not in a position where I can decline her. A large portion of the food supply for the Fire Country comes from Sound, formely the Land of Rice… she has leverage on our Daimyo both politically and it seems personally, so my hands are tied.”

“Ah,” Naruto now frowned too, wondering just what the deal here was.

“You will send me regular reports back and you will be _careful._ There is clearly more to this request, it could even be a trap. I don’t believe the Otokage is working against us, but it is in the nature of allied countries to betray each other in dangerous times. You will do as she says, but if you so much as suspect there is something strange going on, you will contact one of my ANBU and they will pull you out if they have to. Understood?”

“Hai, Hokage-sama!” the three bowed, anxious to finally go on a longer mission again.

Kakashi was less than pleased that his team was leaving him behind, but there was nothing he could do about it. Meanwhile, after dismissing the three Chuunin, Jiraiya was trying to dissuade Tsunade from letting Sasuke leave the Country.

“The kid’s still a flight risk since he found out about his brother. Give him to me for a couple of years, I’ll train him up and keep him away from any crazy ideas about going to find Itachi,” he reasoned, but Tsunade shook her head.

“Team Kakashi can’t replace a member just like that, they’re a very cohesive unit that won’t work with just anyone very easily. And the Nidaime Otokage specifically requested those three.”

She sighed, then looked at her old teammate thoughtfully. “But when they get back, you can have him to train for a while if you think it will help.”

To her it was obvious that Jiraiya saw a younger Orochimaru in the Uchiha and wanted to set him on the right path while he still could. Even though the Snake Sannin was a spy for the Sandaime, it had been a long time since he had been the Orochimaru they had grown up with. In the years following up to his ‘defection’, their friendship had been strained at best and he was already distant, cold and absorbed only in his own research. Now, although technically still loyal to Konoha, the man worked mostly for his own goals with little concern for the village. Jiraiya had been nearly broken by the loss of his friend and then completely shattered by the death of his student shortly after. If training Sasuke would give him any closure, Tsunade wasn’t about to deny it to him.

*

The trip to Sound was fairly short as Team 7 was used to running at speed for long distances from the harsh training Kakashi-sensei put them through. Going past the Valley of the End, Naruto had a strange sort of feeling, but did not stop to think on it. They were supposed to meet a contact in Sound just across the border, who would lead them to the Hidden Village, so they didn’t really have time to just sit around and admire the sights of the enormous stone statues of the Shodai and Uchiha Madara.

It was nearly nightfall by the time they arrived, cautious in new territory but not hiding their presence – they were expected and sneaking around would only seem like they’re up to something. The forest was a lot thinner here than in most of the Fire Country, so they felt quite exposed in the foreign land. Without even a rustle of leaves, someone jumped out of a tree.

“Yo,” Mina greeted them with a cheerful grin. Naruto did a double take.

“You’re our contact?” he asked and she nodded.

“I’ll take you straight to Naga-sama, datteba,” she confirmed. She was dressed quite differently now – at the Chuunin Exam and after, Naruto had only seen her in a standard shinobi uniform, but now she was wearing a lilac kimono top with a long apron skirt and dark hakama underneath. On her hand there was a thin band with silver beads. Despite how baggy and layered her clothes were, she moved soundlessly and effortlessly. She seemed stronger now, somehow – but he couldn’t quite put his finger on how he could tell. They followed her through vast rice fields and into a mountain range, where they entered an intricate and meandering valley. Everything seemed to echo eerily there and Team 7 knew each of their steps was being watched.

“Hang on,” Mina stopped them and took out three paper seals. Naruto gushed over the design for a moment. “These will grant you passage through the genjutsu around the village.” She showed them how to wrap them around their wrists like bracelets. After that, they continued for a little while longer, before the girl showed them into a cave, which descended steadily down. Eventually, they emerged from the surrounding darkness into what seemed to be an underground village. It was lit up brightly and a lot more lively than they had imagined.

“Naga-sama has done so much, I still can’t believe it, datteba. This place used to be absolutely dreadful, back when Orochimaru was in charge. He originally built it as one of his research facilities. Still, its home.” Mina grinned, waving to some of the children who ran past them.

“Let’s not keep her waiting,” she then led them to one of the larger buildings, which was joined to the wall of the cave. Inside, there were several staircases they had to climb up, before finally coming into a large hall, with enormous pillars supporting the ceiling and a water fountain in the back. There was a long desk, littered with paperwork, behind which a pale, tall woman sat. She watched them approach, snake-like eyes tracking them carefully in the dark. The scales on her cheekbones and wrists shone in the firelight of the torches. She was not dressed in Kage robes, like the only time Team 7 had seen her from a distance, but wore a long sleeve lilac shirt, tied at her waist with a large rope belt.

“Uzumaki… Uchiha… Haruno,” she gazed at them for a long time silently. “Congratulations on your promotions.”

“Thank you, Otokage-sama,” the three of them bowed sincerely. She nodded at that. Her impassive expression morphed into an unsettling smile with thinly veiled amusement. Naruto found it difficult to reconcile this woman, who seemed like a coiled snake waiting to strike with someone who Mina loved dearly.

“Hatake has trained you well and your Godaime trusts you with most important missions,” Naga said, her eyes now narrowed into nearly slits. “Additionally, I hear you have earned my… _father’s..._ respect. He is a cruel, twisted man, but he is also a connoisseur of skill and appreciates power like no one else. That is precisely why I require your services.”

Mina joined them then, a more controlled smile on her face now. She passed a scroll over to Naga, who unrolled it, revealing a map.

“As you are no doubt aware, the Akatsuki are in the possession of several Bijuu. That is a threat larger than anything the shinobi world has faced before. Yet, they are virtually impossible to kill and require immense skill to seal,” the Otokage spoke calmly, then pointed at one particular point on the map.

“I think there are still scrolls and seals which might help us in the ruins of Uzushiogakure,” Mina then continued in her place. “But there has been some strange activity there lately, the Wave Country has been closed off and most of the water space between it and the Fire Country is being watched. If we were to go in, we’d have to take the long way around through the Land of Hot Water, datteba.”

“And we may not be the only interested party,” Naga picked up there again, folding her arms across her chest and straightening up. “You three will escort Mina there. This is something I cannot trust to any of my shinobi, stretched thin as our forces are. Additionally, you,” she looked straight at Naruto. “Are an Uzumaki. If anyone can actually access the secrets of their hidden village, it will be you and Mina.”

Team 7 processed the information quickly. Naruto couldn’t entirely hide his excitement at going to see the home of his clan, but to be fair Mina was positively glowing as well.

“I want you three to remember, your mission is to protect her, _not_ to search for the Uzumaki secrets yourselves,” Naga said sharply. “You have three weeks to learn what you can.”

“Hai, Otokage-sama!” they bowed again.

It looked like he’d be spending his sixteenth birthday in Uzushiogakure, Naruto realised. Eager to set out, Team Uzumaki, as they decided to call themselves, prepared to leave the very next morning. When that was, it was difficult for the Konoha nin to tell, unused to living underground, but Mina woke them and after a quick breakfast, they were ready to go.

The way through the Country of Hot Water was quite a big detour to take and since the country had shinobi they had to avoid, the journey was relatively slow and long. It was nearly five days before they reached the southern shore, across from which, somewhere in the distance, the island which was once the Land of Whirlpools lay.


	12. Changing Tides

Getting across to the isolated island proved only a little challenging. That region of the Hot Water Country was poor and people would do almost anything just for a bit of money. Much as Team 7 disliked manipulating someone that way, they needed the transport. They hired a small boat to take them almost right up to the island, where they would continue on by water-walking. No one seemed to want to go near there, saying that the old ruins were haunted and that nothing good ever happened to people who wandered in there. Under the cover of a misty morning, they approached the shore. They doubted anyone else would be there, but the whole point of this mission was to get the scrolls and information safely – so staying hidden was for the best. Ruins towered over the island – unique buildings, toppled over, burnt and broken. It might have been a beautiful sight, even, had it not been the destroyed home of Naruto’s ancestors. Now the reality of how many people had been slaughtered here set in.

“Let’s move,” he said, voice tight. They had to get inside the village. Meandering between the ruins, they made their way in without much trouble, but when they arrived at the gates to the innermost part of the island, they ran into a barrier literally blocking their path. 

“Huh. A seal that’s still active, after all this time?” Naruto looked around, feeling the invisible chakra with his hand.

“Can you diffuse it?” Sasuke asked, Sharingan inspecting the shining dome around the inner ring of the village with interest.

“Mm.. no. But I read somewhere that barriers of this type usually have a sort of back door so you can’t accidentally lock yourself out. If you can use the Sharingan to locate it, I can probably make a new seal-key for it.” The blond replied though he had never attempted circumventing a barrier of this scale before. He liked to think he was pretty decent at Fuuinjutsu, but he was no master – he didn’t have the experience to back it up.

“When did you learn sealing?” Mina looked on, eyebrows raised. “Took me ages to learn even the very basic ones, datteba.”

“Well, I’ve been learning from Jiraiya of the Sannin – he’s a seal master. That probably helped.”

“Ah. That’s not fair,” the girl pouted but let them go about their work. Sasuke walked around, trying to pinpoint any anomalies in the barrier. They spent most of that day just searching around, around the barrier and the buildings they could get into. There was destruction everywhere – but no remains of bodies. This was strange, because even though it had been around thirty years since the fall of Uzushiogakure, there should have been some evidence of what happened.

Finally, Sasuke found what he described as a “second bubble of chakra” around a water fountain. It was large and round, amazingly still functional, though not very clean. Then, he went with Sakura to find them something to eat while Naruto and Mina sat down in front of the fountain, unsealed their writing utensils from a scroll each and set to work.

When the Uchiha and Sakura returned, they were greeted by a rather odd sight. Both the Uzumakis were slightly... singed and it looked like an explosion had just gone off.

“Fucking shitty stupid damn thing,” Naruto was growling, while Mina glared at him with her hands on her hips, angry.

“I thought you knew what you were doing, datteba!” she shrieked. “Why would you put a secondary matrix around a circular array, are you INSANE?!”

“It seemed like the right thing to do okay!” Naruto shouted back, red on the face. “Why don’t you do it then if you’re so smart, dattebayo!”

“Fine!”

“Fine!”

Then each turned in a different direction, huffing. They refused to speak to each other for the rest of the day. They spent the night in a nearby building, enjoying the relative comforts it offered over camping out. The next morning and a whole another day was spent on Naruto kicking, punching and throwing every bit of Fuuinjutsu he knew at the stupid fountain, no closer to unlocking the barrier. Defeated by the stupid wall, he and Mina were lying down on the ground, under the warm-ish September sun. The climate here was cooler than in the Fire Country, doubtless because they were surrounded by the sea and cold air currents from the Snow Country and the Mist.

“Ugh… I’ve tried, like, everything.” Naruto groaned, face buried into the ground. Beside him, Mina stirred.

“My mum used to try to teach me seals. I was too little to understand much of it then, though,” she said. “I miss her.”

Naruto didn’t know what to say to that. He’d never had any family to lose in the first place.

“She used to tell me that seals were different for everyone – like if two people wrote an exploding tag, there would be differences even if they worked the same?”

“Hmm… Jiraiya told me something similar. Actually... I might have an idea.” Naruto’s eyes sparked with excitement again and he shot right back up into a sitting position. “What do you think this barrier is for?” he asked Mina, who shrugged.

“Keeping people out? Not that it really worked, datteba...”

“No, I mean, yes that’s its general function but what is its purpose? To keep people safe. To protect them.” He wrote down a seal as he spoke, then slammed it onto the chakra barrier, which fizzed and dissipated. The fountain stirred and suddenly all the water drained out of it, revealing a descending spiral staircase going underground. Naruto smirked in triumph. If you could understand the intention of whoever wrote the seal, you could figure out what was needed to counteract it.

Someone clapped for them.

“Thank you,” a tall man with an enormous sword walked up to them. He wore a crossed over Mist head protector. A missing-nin, they realised, already on guard. “For opening that barrier for me. Now, it’s time for you kids to die.”

“Momochi Zabuza, Demon of the Mist… A-rank missing nin, bounty of 1 million ryo from the current Mizukage,” Sakura’s voice rang out and she appeared along with Sasuke, surrounding Zabura. Good thing she’d memorised the bingo book.

“More little girls who think they’re ninja,” the man laughed, bringing out his sword. “Lucky I’m going to get paid more than enough for this.”

“Who’s paying you?” Naruto asked, not normally inclined to talk to his opponents, much less missing-nin, but if he had known they were taking down the barrier, he wasn’t there by accident.

“Akatsuki, of course. Not that it matters because you kids won’t be leaving here alive. Let me show you what a real ninja is like,” he formed a seal and immediately, a thick mist set over them, making them unable to see very far.

“It’s going to take more than that, dattebayo,” Naruto said and concentrated, causing the mist to literally drop to the ground with a splash. It was, after all, a source of water. Then, anyone else would have hesitated before using a jutsu knowing that their teammates are also in the way, but Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura knew how each of them worked and they split apart just in time. Using his Water Gun technique, Naruto sliced right through the ground in front of him aiming for their enemy.

Zabuza was certainly caught off guard, but he wasn’t a Jonin and missing-nin for nothing. Turning the blade of his sword sideways, he used it as a shield and withstood the barrage of pressure, although he did move from the spot a bit, pushed back by the sheer force of the jutsu.

“Mina, stand back,” Naruto said to the red haired girl. She glared.

“I can fight too you know, I’m not some gentle flower that needs to be protected,” she snarled at him.

“I know that, dattebayo, but I really don’t want to get skinned alive by Naga-sama because I let you get hurt. Please, stand back?” the blond said, trying to placate her. She didn’t look impressed, but took a few steps back.

“I’ll support you with water jutsu at least,” she called out, but remained where she was. Family or not, she was Team 7’s mission and they’d protect her with their lives if necessary.

“Using water jutsu against a Mist shinobi? You kids are too naïve,” Zabuza said and after flying through a series of handseals, he created a water dragon using the water Naruto’s technique had left behind. He was really underestimating them, Naruto thought. 

“Devouring Earth!” Sakura slammed her hands down and turned the ground into mud, trying to trap Zabuza, but he jumped up and then stayed on top using chakra. It looked like it took some effort, though.

“Housenka no Jutsu,” Sasuke joined in, spitting fireballs at their enemy, which he dodged quite easily. The jutsu wasn’t as fast as his mastered Gokakyuu yet.

“Alright, brats, I suppose I should get serious.” He shot towards Sakura at speed. He was fast, but not as fast as Kakashi-sensei. She rolled over to the side, barely avoiding the neck-cleaving blade.

“Sakura!” Sasuke yelled, Sharingan already activated and rushing to her aid. He was by far the fastest of the three and he managed to deflect the giant blade with his kunai, though just barely.

“You’re a nuisance,” Zabuza said and performed a series of one-handed seals, trapping Sasuke in a ball of water. “Water Prison Jutsu.”

“Fucking idiot,” Naruto breathed, but was already trying to think of a plan to free his friend. Sakura was up and next to him in a moment.

“He trapped Sasuke, but he’s also stuck in one place now,” she said, rolling up her sleeves. “We can do this.”

“Hell yeah, dattebayo!”

Sakura launched her chakra stings towards him, while Naruto threw in a few kunai, trying to think of what he could use that wouldn’t also decimate Sasuke in the process, who was immobile in the way of their attacks. Zabuza cut through the chakra strings with his sword and deflected the kunai at the same time.

“My blade is a little special, chakra based attacks won’t stick to it,” he growled, now getting annoyed. The brats just kept on pulling out technique after technique.

“Distract him with your Kage Bunshin,” Sakura said, going through a series of handseals he recognised from having the technique used on him in practice many, many times. Immediately, Naruto created five clones and had them attack Zabuza simultaneously, forcing him to use every ounce of skill with his blade to strike them down. While not being the fastest, Naruto had good reaction times and intuition, knowing exactly how to dodge and hit at the same time. Zabuza’s word was large and relatively slow to swing, especially since one of his hands was occupied with the jutsu trapping Sasuke, so he could time his strikes when the blade was swinging the other way. Still, he couldn’t _quite_ get the man to let go of Sasuke. This was where Sakura, the long range and support of their team, came in.

Zabuza was already concentrating on maintaining a technique and fighting Naruto, so it was relatively easy for her chakra to get a hold on his mind.

“Needle Binding Technique,” she said as she felt the illusion take hold. It was one of the more difficult jutsu she knew, but it was also the only one that was likely to get Zabuza to drop the hold on the water prison.

“You got him?” Naruto yelled, stopping his attacks, but it cost him: the Mist-nin slashed through thee of his clones in that instant.

“He’s moving despite the pain,” Sakura said, amazed. She focused even more chakra into the jutsu, making Zabuza feel the illusory needles being pushed further into every inch of his skin. Still, he endured, although falling onto one knee. Naruto’s clones seized the chance and one of them slammed an elbow down into the man’s extended arm, breaking his contact with the ball of water. It collapsed, Sasuke along with it – coughing, barely able to breathe.

Zabuza had one last trick still up his sleeve though, even when paralyzed from crippling pain. Not being a Genjutsu specialist, he couldn’t break Sakura’s flawless illusion, but he could still release enough chakra to overwhelm it.

“Demon Shroud!” A cloud of purple chakra erupted from his body, forming a shifting image of demon heads, melting into one another. Naruto’s clones were instantly dispelled from the sheer push of power that exploded from the man, while Sasuke got hit with the brunt of the chakra-based attack. It burned his skin and he screamed in pain, rolling away.

“Sasuke!” Sakura yelled, breaking her concentration on the jutsu. Zabuza shook the genjutsu off then, with another enormous pulse of chakra. Grabbing his sword with both hands now, he was ready to attack again.

In that moment, Mina jumped in and grabbed Sasuke, pulling him away from Zabuza. Purple chakra was still eating away at the skin on his face and arm, but it was fading away slowly, leaving deep burns in its wake.

“Great Water Wall!” Naruto summoned an enormous wave at once, directing it at Zabuza who tried to slice through it with a chakra-powered slash of his blade, but there was simply too much and he was pushed away. The wave crashed against a building several metres behind him, slamming the man into it. When the water receded, Zabuza noticed he was trapped, surrounded by a tall wall made of earth. On top of it, the four teens stood.

Chakra strings erupted from the wall and wrapped around his arms and legs, making him unable to so much as twitch.

“Gokakyuu no Jutsu!” Sasuke breathed out, sending an enormous fireball into the pit below them, leaving Zabuza no way to escape.

“Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu,” Naruto tossed in several shuriken and knives of his own. The inferno roared for several seconds, before the stench of burning flesh reached their noses. Mina nearly threw up then, but Team 7 had had a lot of experience with Fire techniques in battle and withstood it with grave expressions on their faces. When the jutsu ended, they saw Zabuza still standing there, severely burned and barely standing even with the support and restriction of the chakra strings.

“Kami, he’s still alive,” Sakura whispered. Naruto gulped, but knew what had to be done. Both to put the man out of his suffering and to cut off any possibility of his escape. Using his Water Gun technique turned up to maximum pressure, he cut off Zabuza’s head.

The three of them were exhausted from chakra usage and pale from what they’d just had to do, but there was no time to be sitting around and recovering.

“Let’s… seal him up, datteba,” Mina said, taking out a blank scroll from one of her sleeves. They nodded and Naruto helped her, knowing they couldn’t as well leave his body lying around. Plus, the bounty for him was quite a lot of ryo.

Someone cleared their throat behind them. Alarmed, the four young shinobi immediately shifted to a battle stance. There stood a man, probably in his thirties, with round glasses on and very long, very bright red hair.

“Did you.. er..kill that man? He has been loitering around here for a few weeks now, I had to lock up the inner barrier so he couldn’t get in....” he said hesitantly, hands joined together and hidden in the long sleeves of his blue robes. They had a large Uzumaki swirl on the front.

“Sorry, who are you?” Sakura asked cautiously, kunai still raised.

“Forgive me. My name is Uzumaki Kaito. Please, finish what you are doing and follow me inside, I would rather not leave the barrier unattended for too long. Many seek the secrets of my clan and I fear what may yet come to pass should they fall into the wrong hands,” the man said calmly, blue eyes shining. Team Mina got back to work immediately, deciding he wasn’t a threat. Naruto and Mina sealed up Zabuza’s body and weapon, while Sakura administered a mild anaesthetic to Sasuke, before she could begin treating his burns. He was barely conscious, but stood up again with her help.

“Please, follow me,” the man walked down the spiral staircase in the fountain. It was dark and damp there, but after only a moment they emerged into a sun-bathed garden, surrounded by magnificent, although mostly destroyed buildings.

“You are an Uzumaki, yes?” Kaito turned to Mina, who nodded, eyes shining bright.

“Me too, dattebayo,” Naruto added, feeling left out.

“Haha, my apologies. You do not have red hair, that is very unusual for one of our clan... although not completely unheard of,” the man said, leading them into one of the buildings to the left, which looked like it had been recently restored.

“Please, you may heal you friend in here,” he showed Sakura and Sasuke into one of the rooms, where she made him lie down and got to work.

Mina and Naruto followed Kaito into what appeared to be a living room.

“I assume you and that Mist ninja did not come here now by coincidence,” the man said, sitting down and folding his arms across his lap. “I have little contact with the outside world, living here. Please tell me what you can.”

They explained to him about the war against Akatsuki and the threat they pose, holding five of the Bijuu against all of the Elemental Nations. All throughout their story, he remained quiet.

“And their leader… we’ve heard he is also an Uzumaki,” Naruto finished, uncomfortable. Kaito sighed.

“Our clan has, throughout time produced many capable shinobi and scholars… but as it is with all people, not all of them set their sights on noble goals. But to think one could take control of six Bijuu... that is truly, extraordinary,” the man said carefully, clearly interested in how this might be achieved, but still contemptuous of what such power was used to accomplish.

“Can you help us, Kaito-san? We are trying to find some way to fight back,” Naruto pleaded, hopeful.

“Well, much as I dislike the thought of Uzumaki knowledge being given to those outside of our Country... the teachings of our ancestors are as much your right as they are mine. You may study what you wish, I will not interfere,” Kaito said after a moment.

“Ano... how come you’re living here all alone?” Mina joined in then, looking around curiously. A sad smile appeared on the man’s face.

“I grew up here, had a family here… it was a coincidence that I was escorting Lady Kushina to Konoha when the village was attacked. When I returned… it was already too late. My wife and daughter were dead, the few survivors did not wish to stay where the ghosts of their loved ones would haunt them, but I chose to remain and rebuild everything, in time… Someone needed to protect the graves of our kin and guard the knowledge left behind.”

“I’m sorry…” Mina’s smile died at once.

“Um…aren’t you, like.. 50 years old then? You don’t look it,” Naruto was sceptical, at which Kaito laughed.

“I’m nearing sixty. Don’t you know that most Uzumaki can live up to a 100 years old or more? That is why we were such a powerful clan, we were numerous and notoriously difficult to kill, plus we had a long time to pass our knowledge down to our children and grandchildren. But… that was our downfall, too. The Elemental Countries feared our skill… but there is nothing to be done about that. It is most heartening to see young Uzumaki like you are out there, seeking out strength and knowledge. I’m sure anyone else in the clan would have been proud of you two as well,” he smiled at Mina and Naruto, who beamed at him. Also, if they would look this good at sixty... it was something to look forward to, definitely.

Sakura entered the room then, looking wary.

“I can’t heal Sasuke properly. Zabuza’s chakra was… strange, like it had been augmented somehow? The burns won’t fade at all and I’ve tried everything I know,” she said, eyes downcast. Naruto went up to her and gave her a hug. She was shaking a bit and crying.

“We can have Aunt Tsunade look at him when we’re back, okay? Don’t worry, you’re a brilliant medic-nin, Sakura,” he reassured her and she nodded back at him tentatively.

“We-we shouldn’t stay here too long anyway, in case Akatsuki realise Zabuza is dead and send someone else,” she said, shaking away the tears. Naruto and Mina agreed.

Despite being eager to begin pillaging the remains of the libraries and archives of Uzushiogakure, they ended up resting for the night, after a bit of coaxing from Kaito-san. He provided them with a hot meal and they spent the evening talking about themselves, getting to know each other – Uzumaki to Uzumaki.

Naruto and Mina were both thoroughly enjoying themselves, while Sakura sat in the corner, subdued. Sasuke had woken up but did not wish to be disturbed, shutting himself in the room for the remainder of the night.

They spent a week digging through every book, scroll and journal they could find which seemed relevant and the time passed quite quickly. Kaito helped them where he could, also sharing stories of the clan and it’s traditions with Mina and Naruto. The two bonded with him very quickly, and even more with each other. It was like having a sibling, Naruto thought and was saddened when he remembered that soon, they would be returning each to their own country and there was no way to know when they’d see each other again.

Before he even noticed, his birthday rolled around and they would be leaving Uzushio in just a few days.

“Why exactly are you sulking?” Mina interrupted his thinking, approaching with five scrolls in her hand. Naruto stared.

“It’s nothing, dattebayo. It’s my birthday today, it always puts me in a kinda weird mood… and I guess I’d like to stay here longer, there’s just so much to learn, it’s like we’ve barely scratched the surface,” he admitted, shrugging his shoulders. Mine nodded understandingly.

“I don’t much like my birthday either,” she scrunched up her nose. “And I know what you mean, the seals they made, they were out of this world. Like, I’ve been learning Fuuinjutsu since I was five and I can’t even begin to comprehend most of these.”

They decided to take a break and went to lie down on the grass of the garden in the centre of the village, it was their favourite place. It was amazingly well maintained, they suspected some seals had been used for that, and it had a very calming atmosphere. It reminded Naruto of Shino, somehow. It felt a little like home, he guessed.

“Hey, Mina… I finally figured out what you said to me before meant,” he broached the topic carefully. She turned over on the grass, facing him.

“I’ve said a lot of things to you, datteba, you’ll have to be more specific.”

“Ha-ha. You know... about what made a person a good shinobi?” he asked quietly, not looking directly at her.

“Aha? What about it?” Mina could be really fucking stubborn sometimes. Uzumaki trait, that.

“I think I finally know what it means,” he admitted after a moment, giving in. The girl must have sensed he wanted to say more, because she just gave him a searching, questioning look.

“I just.. don’t know what to do about it.”

There was a moment of silence. Mina reached up into the air and caught a golden leaf which had drifted down from one of the trees.

“Would you rather wait for some drastic situation to force your hand or work up some courage and take action? It might be too late then,” it seemed like she was speaking from experience, somehow. He wanted to ask, but her face clearly conveyed that she didn’t want to talk about it. “I mean, yeah, it’s not easy and it’s embarrassing and can downright fuck things up, datteba. But just waiting and doing nothing won’t help, either. You’re only hurting yourself that way.”

Naruto nodded slowly. He imagined what it would be like if Shino ended up agreeing to one of the marriage arrangements, or if he had met someone he liked in Suna or if he died on a mission without ever knowing how much he meant to Naruto. He hadn’t really thought of it that way – he had been too busy trying to conceal his feelings and hide them from his friend.

Lying back down on the grass, he resolved to tell Shino everything as soon as possible. The anticipation, the excitement began to swell in his chest at once, making his face flush. He was already nervous about it too… but his resolve was firm.

“Thanks, Mina-nee,” he said finally, grinning up to the sky.

*

When they finally set out for Otogakure again, it was with heavy hearts. Sasuke and Sakura seemed to be fighting or something, which made the young Uzumakis quite uncomfortable around them. They didn’t want to leave – Uzushiogakure was beautiful and there was still much more about it to discover, even with Naruto’s clones constantly helping they could only find out so much in the limited time they had. It was the home of their ancestors and even though neither Naruto nor Mina knew any of them, it felt welcoming to them, somehow.

“Kaito-san, are you sure you want to stay? Akatsuki could send someone here again,” the blond asked, but the man just shook his head.

“I may not be much of a fighter, but I know seals. The barrier will hold, no matter what they try. This is my home, I don’t think I could bring myself to leave,” he said, then smiled at the two teen’s crestfallen faces. “Feel free to visit me again someday. And make sure that whatever you use the knowledge you found here for, you won’t disgrace the Uzumaki name.”

“It’s a promise, datteba!” Mina grinned and they both hugged Kaito one last time.

Laden with scrolls, notes and books, they set out on the long journey through the Land of Hot Water again, using a small boat Kaito had provided them with to get across the sea. Waving him goodbye, they sailed away on the calm sea.

*

When they returned to Sound, they were exhausted. They had to rush to return on time, despite being weighed down by a lot of luggage. The Sound Village was much as they left it and right after they arrived, a summons from the Otokage arrived, delivered by an ANBU with a Sphinx mask over his face.

They presented all their findings to Naga-sama, who used the tentacle-like braids of hers to open four scrolls at once and began to read through them.

“This… is really interesting,” she narrowed her eyes, but seemed approving. “With this, we may be able to create measures to contain the Bijuu. Well done,” she put the scrolls down, then stepped out from behind her desk. Only then did Team 7 realise how ridiculously tall for a woman she was. She led them to a room off to the side, which she unlocked with a seal. From what they could see, it was full of large scrolls and books and a moment later, she emerged holding three of the biggest scrolls.

“You have earned more than just money for this mission. I would like to offer you each a summoning contract,” she said in a tone which suggested she wasn’t really expecting any of them to refuse. They all stared, while Mina grinned widely.

“But remember, I am not giving these to you out of good will. They are dangerous and will paint a target on your back for every powerful shinobi in the world to see. Yes, you have proven yourselves worthy, but the real reason why I am willing to impart them to you is because I cannot contain so many of them in one place. Should even one fall into the wrong hands, it would be disastrous,” she said and handed them a scroll each. “I believe you three will be able to protect them.”

“Otokage-sama… this is too much,” Naruto stuttered out, amazed.

“Perhaps. But these were originally stolen from Konoha and Iwa by my _father_ , and I have no desire to keep them to myself. Nor do I have any shinobi capable of truly making use of them. Mina, perhaps, could in time, but I am planning to have her sign the summoning contract which I rightfully own. You can refuse these… but I think you would do well to use anything you can against the Akatsuki. You can consider them a gesture of faith in our alliance with Konoha if you wish.”

The three were still stunned, but bowed and thanked her.

“For you, Uchiha – the eagle contract. Use it well.”

“Haruno – Your affinity is earth, correct? You are a support type shinobi, who would benefit greatly from a strength-based summon. This is a contract for Earth-type Golems.”

“Lastly… Uzumaki. I have in my possession both the Monkey contract and the Hedgehog contract. The former are Taijutsu masters, I believe their last summoner was your Third Hokage. The Hedgehogs value protecting their own above all other traits and are skilled in using their needles in combat. It is your choice,” Naga stared him down, those unnerving snake-like eyes open wide.

Naruto thought it over, but eventually settled on the Hedgehog summon. He wasn’t aspiring to be a taijutsu master, but more long-range jutsu or a summon that could protect him would probably be useful.

They thanked the Otokage again, before preparing to leave. As they exited, Naruto glanced behind to see her giving Mina a tight hug and quickly left, embarrassed.

Saying goodbye to his new nee-san was painful, but then she started asking when he was going to confess to his mystery crush and he immediately waved her goodbye and left, just so Sasuke and Sakura wouldn’t ask questions.

*

When they returned home, Tsunade greeted them with grave news. The ruins of Uzushiogakure had been ground into dust just a few days before and some shinobi spotted an enormous explosion from all the way in the Fire Country. Kaito-san was most likely dead.

The Godaime also took a look at Sasuke’s burn scars but she said there was little she could do – without a lot of research into this specific type of chakra. She said it was almost like the type of damage a Bijuu’s chakra could do, very difficult to reverse. Sasuke remained quiet all throughout her explanation, but it was clear that the scars bothered him. Sakura then put her hands on her hips and sighed.

“If you think for one second that I’d leave you because of a few scars, you’ve got another thing coming,” she said and kissed him, making everyone in the room instantly uncomfortable. Sasuke included.

“I’ll… uh.. leave you guys to each other then,” Naruto said sheepishly and made a beeline for the door, followed by the quick clicks of Tsunade’s heels. Once they closed the door of the hospital room behind them, she turned him around to face her.

“There was nothing you could do to save Uzushio. You would have just died there, along with your teammates,” she said firmly.

“I need to get stronger then, so I can go up against whatever they used to destroy a whole village. I’ll never let it happen to Konoha!” he said calmly, with determination. He would do it or he would die trying.

*

A week later found a grieving Naruto buried neck deep in notes on Fuuinjutsu, having barely slept or eaten. It was difficult, accepting that one of his very small family died and it wasn’t until Kakashi-sensei came to talk some sense into him that he finally cashed and after sleeping for nearly two days, began to recover, both physically and emotionally. Then he decided, that he wasn’t going to wait any longer and resolved to tell Shino how he felt. If he was going to go up against Akatsuki, he surely could find the courage to face his friend. Picking out the bracelet Mina gave him before they left Oto from his bag, he put the simple black band with a few silver beads on his wrist, feeling better immediately. One of them had an Uzumaki swirl on it, another the symbol of Oto and the last of Konoha. It was a very meaningful gift which he was going to treasure.

He found Shino not at his home – Mizuho-nee was glad to see him, though – but at the old training ground where they used to spend so much time together. He was sitting cross-legged under a tree, reading. Naruto hoped that was a good sign.

“Uzumaki-san,” Shino greeted him, putting down his book. The blond grinned at him in return, but his heart was already pounding loudly in his ears and his hands were shaking a little.

“Hi,” it came out unusually high, only adding to his internal panic. He sat down next to Shino and tried to figure out how best to approach the topic.

“How was your mission?” the Aburame asked then, sparing him the trouble of breaking the ice.

“It was… it went really well actually. We bagged an A-rank missing-nin bounty and got to see Uzushiogakure, it was absolutely amazing. Just… after we got back, we heard that the whole island was destroyed by Akatsuki. I met one of my clan there, he’s probably dead, now,” Naruto said, his voice becoming quieter towards the end. He could never forgive them for killing Kaito-san. “It’s fine,” he said when he noticed Shino’s sympathetic look. He didn’t come here to make his friend feel bad. “I got a summoning scroll as a reward, though I haven’t really tried it yet,” he changed topic slightly, actually excited about the prospect of trying out the jutsu when he had the time.

“That is most interesting. Why? Summoning contacts are exceedingly difficult to obtain,” Shino said, his eyebrows moving up a bit in surprise.

“But… that’s not really why I wanted to talk to you about today,” Naruto touched the bracelet from Mina, gathering all his resolve. “I’ve been thinking about this for a while, dattebayo,” he paused, closing his eyes for a moment. “And… I’m in love with you,” he said as quickly as possible, fists clenched tight and probably totally red on the face. There was an impossibly agonising moment of silence before Shino spoke.

“I must apologise to you, Naruto…”

The blond’s heart sank at once, painfully.

“I.. I see. I’m sorry if..” he started, but Shino raised a hand to stop him.

“For having used you as a tool to stop my father from forcing me into an arranged marriage. I was young then, unaware of the consequences. However, the truth is that although I initially approached you only because you were the person my clan would disapprove of most, I very quickly began to wish that you were truly my partner in life. However, I did not want to force you into anything and I knew that you did not feel the same. You were always talking about your affections for Haruno-san, while I was content just to share a book with you, and it wasn’t until I showed you my Kikaichu that I truly realised why. I’ve been in love with you since the day we met, Naruto.”

When Shino finished, the blond was staring at him, wide-eyed and unable to breathe.

“Why… all this time? Why didn’t you tell me?” he finally stuttered out.

“You were not ready to accept it. Imagine how you would have reacted had I told you sooner,” Shino said like it was the most logical thing in the world.

“I… probably would have freaked out, yeah. I’m sorry..” Naruto then said, going red on the face again. “So you waited, all this time? I’ve barely known for like a month or two..” he mumbled.

“Aburame rarely commit to more than one relationship in their lifetime. When I realised my feelings for you… I knew you were the right person for me. Even if you would find someone else, I was never going to betray that feeling,” Shino said and Naruto just knew he was looking straight at him, even with the goggles on. He could feel the heat rising in his chest again, more powerful than before. To say that he was the happiest person in the world right now would be an understatement. Meanwhile, Shino looked as cool and collected as always, damn him.

“Can I kiss you now?” Naruto blurted out, unable to contain the thought any longer.

“I think so,” Shino tried to reply almost smugly, but the blond was already leaning over, pulling down the collar covering his face and placing warm, somewhat dry lips on his. It wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t very long but because it was him and _Shino_ and _they were in love_ , it was perfect after all. Though he wanted more, wanted to just unzip Shino’s jacket... Naruto pulled back.

“What’s your clan going to say about this?” he asked, sitting back down next to him.

“My father… as long as he can be convinced that our relationship is sincere this time, will not interfere. Mizuho-nee-sama will no doubt be ecstatic,” Shino said after thinking for a moment.

“Hahah,” Naruto grinned. “So… boyfriends?” he hesitated, placing his tanned hand on Shino’s pale one. The Aburame leaned in, so their foreheads were touching.

“Yes.”

 


	13. We Are Shinobi

Despite the grim situation in the war against Akatsuki, Naruto couldn’t be happier. Iwa had captured the Sanbi and killed one of the missing nin who appeared together with it – a Mist nin called Hoshigaki Kisame. However, all this seemed a world away to the Uzumaki, who was enjoying every moment with his boyfriend he could get – whether it was holding hands, making out or just spending time together, reading a book. His general good mood wasn’t swayed by the departure of his teammate – Sasuke, who Jiraya of the Sannin took on a three year training trip, or the absence of Sakura, who was studying under the Godaime’s aide, Shizune, in medic-ninjutsu or with Yuuhi Kurenai in Genjutsu most of the time, nor by the harsh training Kakashi put him through, having taken him on as an unofficial apprentice. The time passed in a relatively calm manner.

Two weeks into his relationship with Shino, he was re-introduced to his father, who seemed a lot less intimidating now than he had a few years ago.  A month in, Naruto got to see Shino’s eyes for the first time. Three months in, he was still learning new things about his boyfriend – that he liked dango, that his favourite colour was blue or that he sometimes dreamed of finding a completely new breed of an enormous insect and taming it. Despite knowing Shino for so many years already, he was still discovering new depths to his personality every day and it fascinated him. The seemingly stoic Aburame liked to sit cross legged with Naruto’s head in his lap, didn’t mind holding hands in public and was very nervous when they were close a lot of the time. When hugging or kissing him, Naruto would notice that his heart was beating fast every time and that his hand would tighten around Naruto’s own. Five months into their relationship, he had a crisis of insecurity, overwhelmed by the attention, love and caring that Shino bestowed upon him all the time.

“Hey, Shino?” he asked, raising his head from the Aburame’s shoulder. “What made you… choose me?” What he really means was _why did you fall in love with me in the first place_ , but from the look Shino gave him, it came across pretty clearly. The Aburame kissed him on the forehead gently.

“You are kind, cheerful, creative, talkative? Because you accepted me even knowing what I am? All that and more,” he said calmly. Naruto could never get used to hearing Shino speak like this, with so much love in his voice, it always made him blush unnecessarily bright. He hid his face in Shino’s shoulder again, smiling. He would be alright, like this.

Six months in, their relationship progressed further. They had been skirting around the subject of sex for a while, but Naruto wanted Shino to take the first step in this. He’d always been uncomfortable with touch, though he seemed okay with hugging and kissing, Naruto didn’t want to force him into anything. Yes, he was having a difficult time controlling himself, but just being with Shino was enough to keep him happy.

That was until the very subject of his surging attraction invited himself over and awkwardly, silently coaxed Naruto to the bedroom. There was a lot of pale skin and Shino’s hands were shaking, until the blond hugged him tightly. It was like that moment at the training ground seemingly many years ago all over again – pure fascination and acceptance. Experimenting, embarrassed and aroused and nervous, they learned every intimate detail of each other, slowly and carefully, then impatiently and eagerly. Melting into every kiss, Naruto hoped to keep the image of Shino, without all the layers, without the goggles, exposed just for him in his mind forever. _I love you,_ they both said without hesitation.

A year into their relationship, Naruto asked about the goggles thing. Mizuho-nee-san wore them and just about every Aburame he’s seen since returning to the Aburame compound (suddenly a lot more lively) wore them. Shino said that they were typically a gift from the family to a person marrying into the clan. Naruto wondered if he’d ever be getting a pair and imagined them living together, matching rings on their hands and never having to sleep alone again.

They proposed to each other a week later, both highly amused that neither was willing to wait for the question to pop. The rings they exchanged were both simple, suitable for a shinobi to wear and inconspicuous, but no less meaningful.

Sakura and Kakashi were both surprised to find out and continued to tease him about it for months after that, until Sasuke returned from his training, brining news that Jiraya of the Sannin had been killed by Akatsuki’s leader and then… nothing was quite the same.

An anxious anticipation creeped over all of Konoha’s young shinobi, knowing that someone as strong as a Sannin had been killed. Naruto’s training had been going well, far better than expected, until just then – perhaps the urge to impress his boyfriend might have had something to do with that. Kakashi was drilling into him every water technique he knew, improving his taijutsu and shurikenjutsu, and working on getting used to fighting alongside his summons.

Hedgehogs turned out to be far more useful than Naruto had ever imagined. They were good trackers, they could launch their needles with amazing accuracy and speed, had their own unique fighting style – that reminded him of the Akimichi’s techniques, rolling with speed and power to crush their enemies. Their boss – Kamihari, was a very reasonable leader, however she could also be a little overprotective of her smaller kin and constantly stressed to Naruto that he shouldn’t unnecessarily expose them to danger.

Yet after finding out about Jiraiya’s sacrifice just to let Sasuke get the information on the enemy leader back to the village, his training went up another whole level. Learning Senjutsu in the deep, otherworld burrows of his summons took him a few months, but he mastered it still  faster than they had thought possible. Meanwhile Sakura learned to crush the earth with her bare fists and implant genjutsu which could turn most shinobi’s stomachs over. Sasuke invented a technique which could summon a lighting storm and his Sharingan evolved too. He could now fight in the air along with the eagles, supporting Naruto and Sakura when needed. The three of them trained longer, harder and more dangerously than anyone else because they _knew_ they could do even better.

Meanwhile, Akatsuki only had four of the Bijuu left – but it didn’t stop them from conquering four countries in a very short period of time – when the news of the Hidden Stone, Valleys, Grass and Waterfall villages falling under their control arrived, it was too late to do anything. The Allied Shinobi Forces were split, leaving Sunagakure completely vulnerable and isolated, while Iwakgakure and Oto fought from both sides to reclaim at least the Land of Waterfalls.

Konoha sent a vast portion of its shinobi to the Land of Frost to rally with the forces from Kumogakure and Kirigakure. Team Kakashi were ordered to spend every last moment training, before joining them – with Kakashi as the leader of 3rd Division of the Allied Shinobi Forces, consisting of close to mid-range fighters. Shino was sent to join the 5th Division under the command of the samurai leader, Mifune. They didn’t say ‘goodbye’ because it would be too much to bear, instead they kissed and promised to return to Konoha when everything is over.

There were only a few Shinobi left in the village when a Yamanaka conveyed bad, bad news to Team 7 – the Kyuubi had reformed and had been sighted heading for the village. Their blood ran cold. Even with only half its chakra, the beast would be unimaginably powerful. But they had to try and stop it, for every civilian and child in the village and for their friends and families who were fighting abroad.

When they sighted the mountain-size fox, tearing through everything in its path, they were as ready as they could be. Their summons were out and they had the few Chuunin and Genin squads they could get have plant traps in it’s projected path, before clearing out of the area that would soon become an epic-scale elemental battle. The Fox raged on – screaming about revenge, bloodlust and hatred, whipping up a nearly impenetrable storm of chakra around itself, rendering all their traps ineffective. They struggled just to dodge the enormous, whipping tails which created rifts in the earth in their wake. Sasuke and Kakashi in turn, tried to subdue it using the Sharingan, but that only seemed to enrage the Fox further. It jumped, then crashed down creating a massive, deep crater underneath it. It was getting closer to Konoha still – they had to do something or there would soon be no village left to save. Using her golems to surround the Fox, Sakura tried directing its’ path away from Konoha as much as possible, but the Bijuu weren’t stupid by any means. Smashing through her creations with it’s enormous claws, the Fox made a new path for itself without much effort. Sasuke’s lightning storm did little to hinder it, although it slowed it down somewhat. Naruto stood back, trying to catch his breath. He had thrown a few dozen clones at the beast already, with little result. It had been a waste of chakra, but still barely a dip in his reserves.

“If… you could stop it for even, a minute? I might be able to seal it, dattebayo,” he said to his teammates, conviction burning in his eyes.

“Seal it in to what exactly..?” Sasuke scoffed, but then his eyes widened in realisation.

“Naruto, you can’t!” Sakura screamed, throwing a massive boulder at the Kyuubi, which crashed into one of its tails and hailed rubble down on them. The blond shook his head and clapped his hands together to form a seal. Unleashing a tidal wave against the Fox, he bought them a moment to speak.

“It can be done, I know it can be. Anyway if anyone _can_ do it, it’s an Uzumaki,” he said resolutely, thinking of the Shodai wife’s notes that Aunt Tsunade had showed him. Uzumaki Mito had been a seal master of no equal, Naruto couldn’t even compare – but he had something to work from, the seal which she had used as a base.

“Naruto...” Kakashi-sensei looked at him – pale, like he was seeing a ghost. He had the same feeling as he did the last time he saw Minato-sensei, going off to battle the Fox alone, never to return.

“You better not die, Dobe,” Sasuke said to him then, turning to face the cloud of vapour where the Kyuubi was thrashing around in the water. “Sakura, Kakashi, I can give you five seconds to bind it.” He activated his Sharingan, tomoe spinning in the irises of his eyes.

Sakura hugged Naruto quickly, then summoned several more earth golems, getting ready to fight.

Going into the storm of chakra around the Kyuubi, alone, the Uzumaki felt a quiet sense of understanding. The Nidaime’s and the Yondaime’s sacrifices, were both born out of the will to protect the village, it was the same for him. This was what it meant to be a Hokage.

Red chakra burned his skin, but, gritting his teeth he endured it. Standing before the enormous Fox, he was overwhelmed by how powerful it was, able to push shockwaves or raw power out, making it difficult to even stand near it. Sakura’s jutsu swallowed up its feet, but it wouldn’t hold for long. He placed his hand on the bracelet Mina had given him, drawing strength from it. He was an Uzumaki and he would seal the bloody thing or he would die trying.

“Here goes nothing, dattebayo,” he said to himself, placing his hands in the unique hand seal. He stared up at the Fox, feeling a little weak in the knees under the sheer power of its chakra, but determined. “Kyuubi! I can’t let you destroy Konoha. If anyone has to bear your hatred… let it be me!”

“Kyuuin: Nanajunmon (7 Pure Gates Absorption Seal),” he summoned seven white _torii_ which materialized in mid-air, one pinning down its neck and two each of its front and one each on its hind legs. The Fox strained under the white gates holding it down, using all his strength to try and escape confinement, but with no success. It’s tails whipped around wildly, but for all their strength they couldn’t resist the sealing gates’ pure energy. Naruto went up to the beast and placed a hand on one of its giant paws, connecting their chakra.

“Seal!” he performed the last hand formation necessary, tugging all of the beast’s immense power into the technique. The Kyuubi roared, resisting, but the jutsu already had a grasp on it, channelling all of his power into Naruto.

“You damned human! Trying to seal me up again!” it screamed, before vanishing at last. “I’ll rip you apart!” Naruto was sure he heard, just as the weight of all the beast’s chakra pulled him down to the ground.

“I have… no… intention of… dying today, dattebayo,” he managed to say before everything went dark.

*

When he woke up, the first thing going through his mind was _‘Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck’_ because every bit of his body burned, like there was acid in his veins. Rolling over on the ground, he opened up the clasps of his vest and checked over the new seal on his stomach; everything seemed to be more or less in place, thank Kami. Then he saw Sasuke, Sakura and their sensei standing a little further away, facing off against three black and red cloaked figures. Akatsuki, he thought with trepidation. He was in no shape to fight at the moment, barely able to even focus his vision. With some effort, he looked more closely at them.

One; he instantly recognised – Uchiha Itachi. He looked like an older, taller version of Sasuke, but pale and tired. A Mangekyou Sharingan was spinning in his eyes.

The other two were both very unusual looking: one was crouched over, with a scorpion-like tail swaying calmly behind him, and the second had grey, dead-looking skin that appeared sewn together with black thread in several places. Naruto attempted to get to his feet, but it was more difficult than he’d expected, falling over. The pain really was almost blinding, but he had more important things to worry about just now, so he pushed past it as best as he could.

When he got to his teammates, he saw Sasuke’s clenched fists and his activated Sharingan, looking right into Itachi’s eyes. Was he trapped in a genjutsu? Naruto wondered, worried, but then his though was interrupted by a drawling, gloating voice from one of the Akatsuki in front of them.

“Hatake Kakashi. His head will fetch a decent price,” the gray-skinned man spoke with interest.

“Let’s hurry and get this over with,” the other one said, voice low and grating. Itachi remained impassive for a moment, before turning to face the other two Akatsuki members quickly, Mangekyou Shaingan spinning. Was he..?

“Naruto, Kakashi-sensei, leave this to us and go retrieve the Scroll of Sealing,” Sasuke said then, stepping towards his brother. “Itachi... nii-san, I missed you,” he then said more quietly, at which Itachi’s lips formed a very faint smile. Clearly they had come to some understanding while looking into each other’s Sharingan eyes.

“… I see,” Kakashi nodded then. “Naruto, we had a transmission from headquarters while you were out. The Five Kage and Divisions 1 through 4 have engaged the Akatsuki, we must hurry and join them as soon as possible,” he explained for the blond. 

“Itachi…” the crouching man said, not even moving. “First Orochimaru betrayed us, stealing the Gobi, now you… Konoha shinobi really are worthless, even for traitors,” he drawled, slowly. “Your genjutsu won’t work against me. Now let’s fight, I hate to wait…”

Itachi dodged a hail of needles that flew towards him then, effortlessly.

“Sasori’s body is a puppet,” Itachi said to Sasuke and Sakura. “I cannot trap him in my Tsukuyomi. As for Kakuzu, I can only maintain the illusion for a few more seconds.” His left eye was bleeding, causing Sakura to gasp. She opened her mouth no doubt to offer to heal him, but the man just shook his head.

“Kakashi-senpai, Uzumaki-san, please go to aid the Shinobi Alliance,” Itachi said the other two, facing Naruto for a moment. “I will ensure my brother and Haruno-san join you later.”

Student and teacher exchanged a confirming glance, before nodding at each other.

“Make sure you catch up to us as soon as possible, dattebayo!” the blond yelled, turning away.

“Not so fast,” Sasori said, launching his sharp, long tail towards Naruto. With a clink of her sword, Sakura deflected it expertly, before it even got close. Kakashi had taught her well.

“Hurry up, Naruto, Sensei!” she said firmly, eyes never once leaving their opponents.

They set out towards the village at once, going to retrieve the Scroll of Sealing – it had to be protected from Akatsuki at all costs, but there were no strong shinobi left in the village to guard it. After retrieving it from the Hokage Vault, Naruto strapped the large scroll over his back and they set out towards the Mountain’s Graveyard in the Land of Needles, where the battle of two armies was taking place. According to the HQ transmission, Akatsuki had deployed thousands of White Zetsu clones to fight against the Shinobi Alliance, with quite a bit of success so far as well. They had clearly been improved since Team 7 fought them last.

“Sasuke and Sakura better catch up soon,” Naruto said to his sensei as they ran at top speed, after taking a soldier pill each. The Uzumaki could already feel the foreign chakra in his body receding, overpowered by his own, but the Kyuubi’s energy was definitely still there – dark and heavy in the pit of his stomach, like hot coals. Unconsciously tightening his fists, he picked up the pace a little bit more.

*

When they arrived, they were immediately thrust into the overall chaos of the battlefield. No one seemed to quite know what was going on, other than that Team 10 were engaging someone called Hidan, while the Five Kage were trying against all odds to hold the remaining three Bijuu at bay while also fighting against the Akatsuki Leader and another one of their members. Apparently the 5th Division had also captured another one of them, some loudmouth missing-nin from Iwa, who had inadvertently warned them that the leader of the organisation was planning to unleash the Bijuu from the beginning, giving the Allied Shinobi Forces time to prepare.

Despite the Akatsuki being so few in number here, it did not look like it in the slightest. Most shinobi were engaging an army of the strange White Zetsu creatures that Naruto and Team 7 had fought before. Having killed the plant-man, they hadn’t expected this to be possible, but apparently they weren’t merely one of his jutsu. These ‘clones’ were also more durable and far more numerous. Shinobi corpses lay scattered everywhere and there were not enough medics to keep up with the number of wounded coming in. Naruto was ordered to help out against the clone army for now, and immediately jumped into the fray, tired but eager to help. His summons were excellent for protecting the wounded and for taking out a large number of the unsuspecting enemies from a distance. He had chakra to spare, now, so throwing out a dozen clones wasn’t much of a problem, lending them to the squads that needed help. He saw people he knew, fighting here and there – old faces from the Academy, but mostly, being surrounded by foreign shinobi was a novel and exhilarating experience for him. Everyone was working together, protecting each other, as a united front – something unheard of in history until now.

He was no longer just a Konoha shinobi, fighting to protect his village, now – he was one of a legion, securing a future for every civilian back home, every child whose life was threatened, and every life that wasn’t yet born. They were all fighting to save the world. 

Eager to fight, Naruto jumped around the battlefield, taking out a few clones at a time, not stopping long enough for one to get a hold on him.

Kakashi-sensei had gone off to oversee the Division’s progress and how all of the wounded were being handled, so for now the blond was left to his own devices. He was dying to know what was happening over where the Akatski leader was – the man who killed Kaito-san, but despite the temptation to leave a clone behind and run off, he remained where he was ordered to stay and helped fight off wave after wave of white Zetsu replicas. If there was one thing Naruto was uniquely suited to do it was fighting numbers with numbers, tossing out clones like it was nothing.

It was nearly night fall when the fighting around him died down – but over to the north, where the Kages were at, the battle raged on, clashes of techniques could be heard thundering though the fields.

A dark moon rose up into the sky, blocking most of the light. Over where the Five Kage were supposed to be fighting… everyone who could, looked up in fright, unable to comprehend that something this enormous could be a jutsu. Then it _shook_ , with a loud rumble and a crack appeared in it. Once again, and then it broke in half, revealing two tiny figures in the sky. Naruto couldn’t quite see what was going on, but if the Kages were fighting, then so would he.

Sakura and Sasuke arrived then, looking battered and wary but mostly unharmed. Team 7 was back together.

“Naruto, lend me some of your chakra,” the girl demanded and he was surprised, but agreed at once, grasping her outstretched hand. Sakura converted it into medical chakra, healing herself and Sasuke at a rapid rate. This was new, but he had long ago ceased to be amazed by every new technique the girl learned – she practically absorbed knowledge like a sponge, able to learn theory insanely fast and put it into practice with minimal difficulty.

“What’s going on?” the Uchiha asked, looking around. Naruto shrugged, not really too well informed himself.

“There haven’t been any updates from HQ, but the weird white clones have stopped coming just now and the Five Kage are fighting Akatsuki somewhere over there,” he pointed vaguely in the direction of where all the smoke, explosions and noise was coming from. “Kakashi-sensei is communicating with the other division commanders to figure out what to do next just now, I think.” His teammates nodded in understanding.

“We fought off the two Akatsuki in Konoha – Itachi has gone into hiding for now, I don’t think many people would be too thrilled to see him here,” Sakura said then, face adorned with a small frown. “We should report to Sensei.” They were spared the trouble when they felt a small disturbance in their chakra.

“ _Team 7, your status?”_ a voice in all their heads resounded. HQ telepathy communication.

“Ready for deployment,” Naruto replied and there was a moment of silence on the other end.

“Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura!” the Godaime’s voice then boomed through their skulls simultaneously. They hadn’t been expecting it and the three of them flinched.

“Hai!” Sakura replied, the first one to recover from the unintentional mental assault.

“I need you here as soon as possible. The Tsuchikage and the Kazekage are down, I need time to heal them. Occupy Pain for me as long as you can,” Tsunade commanded, breathless and urgent, but sure of her decision. They set out at once.

Running to aid the Godaime, they saw the Otokage and Mina fighting alongside Mist shinobi, thinking that Naga’s devastating taijutsu prowess would have been something to witness, but there was no time to stop and admire the destruction she caused amongst the remaining White Zetsu all on her own.

They ran past their old classmates and Gai’s team. Tenten had a kusari-gama in her hand and looked completely in her element. Naruto smiled to himself. If their comrades were giving it their best, they had no right to do any less themselves.


	14. The Earthly and the Divine

When they arrived, the landscape around where the Kage had been fighting had been completely reformed. A woman with blue hair lay dead at the Akatsuki leader’s feet while Tsunade was trying to hold him off by herself, shielding the two wounded Kages with her summon, Katsuyu.

Upon seeing them, Pein ceased his attack and stared at them for a moment, his ringed eyes calm and cold. He then went through the seals of a Summoning Technique before they could react, slamming his palms down on the ground. Five puffs of smoke appeared, revealing identically cloaked figures, each with hair the same vibrant red that Pein himself had and with various arrangements of facial piercings.

“What the hell…” Naruto mumbled to himself.

“He can push and pull people and objects towards and away from himself at will, but there is a period of time for recovery after each time he uses the technique. He also used some type of jutsu to trap Tsunade-sama and the Tsuchikage in a prison of earth, raising it to the sky,” a small voice said and a slug crawled up Naruto’s leg and into his pocket.

“Katsuyu-sama,” he greeted Tsunade’s summon, but never took his eyes off the enemy, who seemed content to wait for them to attack, however. “If there is anything else you can tell us about him, now is the time, dattebayo.”

“ _The real one isn’t here_ ,” Sasuke said then. “Jiraiya-sensei said that.”

“Alright,” Sakura rolled up her sleeves and formed a handseal. “I think we should go all out from the start, don’t you?” she grinned, it was a bit unlike her to be so eager to fight, but the three teammates  knew very well that they had been craving a strong opponent to test themselves against for a long time now. The Kyuubi was powerful… but it wasn’t a shinobi that you had to constantly strategize against.

“Diamond Barrier Seal,” Naruto clasped his hands together, then erected a barrier around them, leaving, hopefully plenty of space for them to fight.

“Why would you prevent others from helping you?” Pein asked in a tone that suggested he didn’t actually care to know the answer.

“It’s not to keep others out… it to keep ourselves in,” Naruto grinned.

“Kuchiyose no Jutsu!” the three of them shouted at once, then an enormous cloud of smoke erupted where they stood, slowly revealing their three summons. Narut stood on top of Kamihari-sama’s head, next to him Sakura was riding on the shoulder of a boulder giant. Sasuke was up in the air, watching them from above.

“I see…” Pein’s first body spoke. Then, the body with long hair in a ponytail stepped forward.

“Kuchiyose no Jutsu,” he said and two chimeras appeared beside him, running towards Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura. The girl’s earth golem took a large swing, knocking the two summons away without much effort. They bounced right back however.

“Needle Prison,” Naruto performed a handseal and his summon knew exactly what to do: she launched needles into the air and then the blond directed them to pin the two chimeras down for good. If they couldn’t kill them, they could immobilise them.

“Kannon-Hanketsu,” Sasuke activated his Dojutsu and swooped down at first body of Pein – he was sure his eagle could latch on to him, but then another Pein moved in the way, a bald one, with a round piercing in the bridge of his nose. He extended his arms and then they opened, the strange machinery within firing two projectiles at Sasuke, who had to violently manouver to avoid being hit. Attacking with his Summon was out until this one was taken care of, then.

“I can’t use my technique on all six of them at once,” he grumbled, getting back to Naruto and Sakura. “Their eyes are connected, they’ll protect each other from attacks.

“Why don’t we give them an attack they can’t dodge even if they can see it, then?” the blond said, getting a nod of agreement from Sakura.

“Great Explosive Mud Wall!” their joined jutsu crashed onwards. One of Pein’s other bodies stepped in front of the ‘main’ pain and another one, with three piercings on each cheek. The jutsu made contact and… got sucked in by an invisible barrier in front of Pein. But the range of it was limited – the mud wall split and went around the group of enemies, knocking away the three who weren’t hiding behind the absorption technique.

Sasuke jumped down from the eage’s back, landing on top of the solidifying mud.

“Housenka no jutsu,” he spat five fireballs at Pein, trying to separate his remaining bodies, but the one in front simply absorbed his technique again.

“Tch,” Sasuke jumped back, trying to think of a strategy. The Pein furthest in the back then turned away, going to help the other bodies which were trapped under Naruto and Sakura’s technique.

Naruto saw that and immediately tried to stip him using his _Mizudeppo_ , but the Pein that could absorb techniques jumped in the way, sacrificing an arm to keep the other one alive.

The first Pein stepped forward then.

“You three are strong. The new Sannin - arrive to replace the last of the old generation… yes, I who killed Hanzo the Salamander who bestowed that title upon the first three… shall name their successors. However, your legend shall die here with you,” he spoke then. “Bansho Ten’in,” he said and an invisible force pulled the three young shinobi to him at great speed.

“Naruto-chan!” the blond’s summon exclaimed, but could do nothing to help them. Pein then took out a sharp black rod, directing it into the path of the three flying toward him.

“Needle Jizo!” Naruto quickly started his technique, covering all thee of them in the last second. Seeing this, Pein dropped the jutsu, eltting them fall to the ground.

Behind him, Team 7 could see a strange statue covered in purple flames, from which the three Peins they had incapacitated before emerged, restored. The main body moved towards Naruto, now unprotected, with the black rod in hand.

“Kannon-Hanketsu!” Sasuke stopped his movements for a moment and knocked the man away, just as the Pein with a mechanic body jumped in, launching several flares at the Uchiha, who was momentarily blinded, having had his Sharingan activated. He stumbled away, panting.

“We need to destroy the one that can restore the others,” Sakura said, trying hastily to make sense of their hopeless situation. “The one with three piercings on each cheek.”

Naruto created a few Kage Bunshin to create an opening for them to retreat a little while Sasuke recovered. The Pein with long hair summoned another couple of chimeras, which dispelled his clones quickly and they headed for the original immediarely, but Sakura was ready to meet them head on with a chakra powered punch each. They flew towards where Team 7’s summons were standing – they knew what to do.

“I’m running low on chakra,” Sakura panted. “But get me in close and I can dismantle the one in the back.”

Naruto threw down a few smoke bombs, hoping to Kami that they’d work against the Rinnegan – and made several clones.

Sakura and his clones emerged from the smoke, running towards Pein.

“Shinra Tensei,” the man said calmly, and an invisible force now pushed Sakura back violently, throwing her body into the air. Then she poofed out of existence. “A clone?”

But Pein was too late noticing – Sakura and Naruto’s clones had hidden in the ground using an Earth jutsu, beneath all the smoke. They jumped out in the back, the six Narutos immediately covering Pein’s vision as much as was possible while Sakura grasped the back of the last Pein’s head, medical chakra pulsing from it. He dropped dead and useless on the spot.

The Pein with long hair and a crooked piercing across his nose then stepped forward, hand extended to Sakura. They didn’t know what he could do, but if he had an unique ability like the others, it couldn’t be good.

“Mizudeppo!” Naruto’s clone reqcted just in time, using his technique to push Sakura out of the way. Panting, Sakura created a golem to carry her back towards her teammates, but Pein’s main body had recovered it’s power then.

“Shinra Tensei,” he said again, this time pushing the real Sakura away. She screamed and fell limply to the ground, far over the other side of the battlefield. Sasuke’s fists clenched tightly and he could barely stop himself from rushing straight over there. Naruto’s mind was trying to go into a loop of _shit shit shit shit_ echoing over and over again, but he slapped himself on the face, focusing. Never let your emotions control you, he told himself.

The two teammates then ran in, Naruto first.

“Mizudeppo!” he targeted the main body of Pein and as predicted, the one who could absorb techniques ran in, blocking it completely. Naruto wasn’t done yet, however.

“Great Spiralling Wave!” he unleashed a fountain of water from his mouth and again, his attack split around the Absorption Technique. It wasn’t powerful enough to knock the other Peins away this time, because he’d have to drown Sakura if he use dany more water, but it did block their vision efficiently enough. He ducked and Sasuke launched two kunai from behind him at the same time. They went through the absorption jutsu of the Pein in front of them, stabbing him in the eyes.

“Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!” Naruto exclaimed and two copies of him unleashed his unique technique, killing that Pein at last. Two down… four to go. Still, the situation was looking far from good. Sakura was down, Naruto was beginning to run low on chakra himself, though he still probably had more than Sasuke at this point. The remaining Peins were all troublesome, plus they still didn’t know the ability of one of them.

They didn’t have the time to forumalte a plan, because the mechanical Pein stepped forward, unleashing a barrage of missiles at them. They whizzed through the air, there was nowhere to hide from them wither. Luckily, Naruto’s summon wasn’t content to just sit on the sidelines any longer and jumped down on top of them, enveloping both him and Sasuke, protecting them from the blast.

“Kamihari-sama!” Naruto exclaimed, seeing blood dripping down the enormous summon’s side.

“I will be okay, Naruto-chan. But I can’t stay here any longer, I am sorry,” and then she vanished from the spot. The two teammates stood up shakily.

“Let’s get rid of that one next,” Naruto panted. Sasuke eagerly agreed.

“Lightning Arch!” the Uchiha unleashed several kunai towards Pain, electricity arching between them like an enormous net. The remaining four opponents didn’t bother dodging, rather choosing to endure the attack. Maybe they didn’t feel pain, but the electricity did hinder the mechanical Pain’s movements somewhat. Using a lower-level water jutsu to conserve his chakra, Naruto soaked the man, causing his whole body to crackle and begin to shut down. The Pain with long hair tried to intervene then, getting a hold of the blond for just a second. There was a strange pull on... everything inside Naruto. The seal on his stomach then loosened and a flash of red chakra repelled Pain’s hand, burning him. The Uzumaki swayed on his feet, feeling the Kyuubi’s chakra begin to crawl out into his system. Using every last ounce of willpower, he pushed it back, locking the seal back in place.

“He can extract life energy,” he wheezed to Sasuke, voice shaking. “Don’t let him touch you, dattebayo.”

Sasuke’s Sharingan spun in his yes and, using his technique to hold the Pain in front of them down, he jumped past him and jammed a kunai into the mechanical one’s head. What he’d learned from the earlier battle with Kakauzu was: an Akatsuki freak might have one than one heart, but he will still only have one brain. He tried to go for the long-haired one at the same time, but a summon from the one that had till now been standing off to the side ran into him, launching him into the air. However, Sasuke had mastered aerial combat during his training with the eagles and using a burst of chakra from his feet, turned in mid air. Falling back down, he went through a series of hanseals quickly.

“Lightning Strike!” he channelled chakra through his finger and downwards, paralysing the rhino-like chimera for a moment, before using ninja wire to pin it town.

Meanwhile, Naruto took the opportunity to slam an explosive tag onto the back of the long-haired Pain. Sasuke’s electric chakra set it off and with a bang, perhaps smaller than it could have been, the body fell to the ground, barely held together and burned.

The only opponents now left standing were the animal-summoning one and the one that had previously been fighting the Five Kage.

“Kuchiyose no Jutsu,” Pain summoned several more chimeras. Sasuke, however could now use his own summon, unhindered by aerial projectiles. He whistled and the eagle that had been circling them above dived. Sasuke jumped on its feathered back easily, then rained firey destruction on the enemy’s chimeras from above. He was staying out of the range of the other’s gravitational attacks, too – though he seemed able to pull them towards himself from a considerable distance, the downtime after was too long and without the other four Pains, he couldn’t compensate for it very well. Naruto, meanwhile had several clones attack the summoning Pain on the ground. The other one tried to repel him usinghis gravitational technique, but Naruto created another clone in mid air and had it catch him and reverse his momentum, throwing him back again. He kicked the long-haired Pain in the chest, knocking him over, then with one quick move that Kakashi-sensei had taught him, snapped his neck. Panting, he stumbled away from the last remaining Pain. Sasuke landed on the ground next to him and suddenly they were both pulled towards their enemy. This time Naruto wasn’t fast enough to counteract it and Sasuke’s shoulder was pierced by the black rod Pein had been holding. When they dropped to the ground again, the Uchiha was gritting his teeth in pain. He couldn’t move.

“Why do you still fight? I am God, even if I stand alone against an army, you cannot defeat me,” Pain said to Naruto, eyes narrowed slightly. The blond didn’t reply for a moment, breathing in tiredly.

“Because you’re trying to hurt my friends. I _will_ protect them,” he ground out, signalling his clones to dispel. Behidn the barrier surrounding the battlefield, a large boulder disappeared. Naruto inhaled slowly, his eyes closed for a moment… then opened them. Sharp, dark markings appeared on his face, like needles. Sage Mode.

Lauching himself forward, he tried to attack Pein, but he’d already had enough time to use his jutsu again.

“Shinra Tensei,” he pushed Naruto away like a fly, he was launched through the air and into his own barrier, which shook with the force of the impact. “Sage Mode is too dangerous… I have seen it before and I will not let you use it.”

Naruto’s vision blacked out for a moment, and then it was too late. He was trapped, unable to move, as an enormous power crushed him slowly.

“Chibaku Tensei,” he heard Pain say and felt everything shift as he was, presumably, lifted off the ground, unable to control his own movments. He couldn’t see anything and now could barely breathe, being slowly crushed by the rocks piled around him.

 _Shino…Sasuke… Sakura… Kakashi-sensei… Gorou-sensei…Mina…Mizuho-nee… I’m sorry but I’m about to do something monumentally stupid,_ he thought and with a twist of his chakra, he loosened the seal on his stomach. Kyuubi’s chakra overhwlmed him instantly.

It was agonising, like the beast was trying to crawl out of a hole in his stomach, claws ripping him apart. Through the haze of red chakra he vaguely noticed that the dense block of earth holding him had cracked and then… everything went red.

He wanted to kill, he wanted to destroy, to make everything burn as much as he was burning up inside. He roared and clawed and whipped his tailes around, lunging for anything and everything in sight. He wanted everything to _end._ If darkness enveloped everything, then maybe it would ease his pain.

He was _Kurama_ and he was _Naruto_ , he was the destroyer, the calamity, the fire that consumed all. He was-

“Naruto!” a voice echoed in the empty halls of his mind. “Snap out of it, dobe. You’ll kill us all at this rate!” A man materialised in front of him, he was speaking, his eyes that hateful, hateful red…

“Sasuke?” Naruto breathed, surfacing finally, his mind a haze of broken thoughts. “Aaah,” he felt his whole body on the verge of collapse, burned from the inside out with the evil chakra. He had to force it back. _He had to._

It felt like a drop that could stir an entire ocean, he thought, pulling out every last bit of strength he had left. _If there is a god… then lend me your strength just this once…_ he prayed silently and summoned all his chakra, suppressing the Kyuubi. It was difficult, the beast was still partially in his mind, trying to win its freedom back by any means necessary. It roared so loud Naruto couldn’t even think, only hope he was doing everything right… then it all stopped. His whole body felt weak, weaker than he had ever been. But Sasuke was there and he helped Naruto stand.

In the real world, Naruto was crouched over Pain’s prone form, his skin burned and red, feeling sick. Sasuke was still pinned down by the enemy’s technique, black rod wedged into his shoulder immovably.

“To break the Chibaku Tensei.. the Nine-Tails is more powerful than I thought,” Pain said, calm and collected still, despite the massive damage Naruto had inflicted upon him. The bottom half of his body was torn to shreds. The blond couldn’t bear to look at his handiwork.

“But I will obtain it’s power at any cost. Kuchiyose no Jutsu,” Pain used his blood to form the summoning hand seals again and with an enormous crash, a giant statue rose out of the ground in front of them. It was human like in shape, bur wrinked and decayed, shackled at the feet and seemingly falling apart. It’s nine eyes opened, each looking in a different direction. It screeched and stirred to life, breaking the restraints of its feet. The barrier around where they were fighting had dissipated when Naruto had transformed and the summoned creature could run rampant through their army. This couldn’t be allowed to happen.

Naruto brought himself to his feet, weak and wobbling. He was completely drained and barely able to see, but he was the only one around to stop it. Then he remembered, he still had a clone gathering natural chakra left. With a pulse of his chakra through a seal he devised for this purpose, he ordered it to dispel and after a moment, he felt strength returning to his body slightly.

“Sage Art: Twin Dragon Dancing Waves,” he clasped his hands together, creating an enormous wave which rushed at the statue, splitting apart and forming two dragon heads which bit down at the summon’s leg, stopping it. Naruto didn’t have much strength left, but he had to end it now. Using senjutsu, he could _probably_ topple it over… Breathing in heavily, he gathered all his strength and shot forward, gliding along the path of water his jutsu had created. He then punched the statue’s leg that his water dragons were still holding down and it shattered. Completely spent, Naruto was trapped underneath it, unable to move away from the falling giant. Then, someone yanked him by the collar and ragged him away, none too gently.

“Sakura,” he mumbled gratefully, collapsing to the ground at the same time as the statue crashed down, whipping up dust, shrapnel and rocks into the air.

“It’s… over,” he breathed. He was wrong.

With another shriek and a futile attempt at raising itself up, the statue released huge chakra chains from it’s mouth, launching them towards where Kages were containing the three Bijuu. With a flash of light, the statue seemed to absorbe the beasts’s chakra, it’s eyes glowing bright blue. It’s leg gre back and it shifted, morphed and transformed… taking on the body of the Rokubi, the horns of the Yonbi and the wings of the Nanabi. It was even bigger now, its chakra more vile than anything Naruto had sensed before.

“No way...” Sakura breathed, face white and scared. Sasuke walked up to them, shoulder finally free of the chakra transmitting rod.

“It just stopped holding me suddenly. What do you think that means?” he asked without really expecting an answer.

The new-formed Bijuu begn swinging it’s tails malevolently; it was too dangerous to stay there. The two teammates helped Naruto up and jumped away, but on their way noticed the five Kage lined up, ready for battle again. Tsunade’s famous Genesis Rebirth seal was active, wrapped around her face and arms noticeably. Sakura frowned at that, but didn’t say anything.

“You did well, brats,” the Tsuchikage said, sounding grudgingly impressed.

“You can leave the rest to us now,” the Mizukage, a very beautiful, even when wounded, woman said in a soothing, seductive voice, winking at them. Team 7 watched the Five Kage battle the bijuu from a distance, awed and humbled by the display of power and skill. They still had a long, long way to go themselves…

*

“I think the Akatsuki’s real leader is dead,” Naruto said a few hours later. “Before.. in Sage Mode, I could sort of sense him, looking over the battle? But now there’s nothing, dattebayo.”

“He used that.. _Chibaku Tensei_ twice, then summoned that statue.. the chakra toll was probably too much,” Sakura said thoughtfully.

“So it’s over? Just like that?” Naruto whined, somewhat disappointed at the anticlimactic end. There was no fanfare, no big speeches on love and forgiveness to convince their enemies to put down their arms, like in the books of heroic shinobi. There was only silence now and dead bodies as far as the eye could see. “He was an Uzumaki, you know? I thought I’d at least have a chance to talk to him, but it was like he wasn’t even human anymore, dattebayo. I guess there’s no use thinking about it _now_..”

Still, he had intentionally or not, avenged Kaito-san, saving thousands of lives in the process, which wasn’t a bad feeling, in the end. There was no euphoria of victory, not like the cheerfulness of the shinobi army crowd celebrating outside, but there was a sense of accomplishment… and looking forward to the future. Seeing the Five Kage fight was an eye opening experience, like watching a battle between gods.

Naruto tried to get up, but his body refused to cooperate altogether. Adrenaline gone, he had to endure the strain of using Sage Mode, the Kyuubi’s chakra and nearly getting crushed to death. Even with his Uzumaki healing it would take a while to recover. Sasuke smirked at him from above, clearly enjoying seeing the blond in misery.

“Shut up, teme and go find Shino for me if you’ve got nothing better to do than stand there and laugh,” Naruto grumbled. “Seriously, get the fuck out of here.”

“Hmph. Don’t die while I’m not looking, dobe,” Sasuke only replied and left the tent without another word. Naruto was left glaring daggers after him. Sakura laughed a bit and left too, promising to find something to give him for the pain.

After a few minutes Shino entered the tent, apparently Sasuke did actually find him.

Naruto couldn’t quite sit up so the Aburame crouched beside the folded out bed he was lying on.

“Hey,” Naruto grinned at him, which Shino returned as a tentative smile of his own.

“I have heard… a disturbing rumour about you, Naruto-san,” his fiancé said slowly, with a frown a moment later. Naruto’s hands tensed a bit. It was no secret what happened in Konoha, by now everyone probably knew. The few Chuunin he’d run into so far had given him wary, cautious looks.

“Yeah… I sealed the Kyuubi into myself,” he mumbled, looking away. He patted his stomach unconsciously, where the black swirls of the seal could be seen through the bandages around it. Shino grasped his hand then, tightly.

“You could have _died_ ,” he said in a falsely calm voice, but his hand was shaking slightly. “Never worry me like that again. Never.” His voice was completely steady again, tone final. Naruto understood.

“So… you’re not freaked out by the…?” he asked tentatively, looking down at his stomach, where he could feel the dark power lurking, just below the surface of his skin.

“If anyone is capable of understanding the sealing of another living creature inside of a human being, it would be an Aburame, Naruto,” Shino just said and the blond knew he was baffled that Naruto would even be worried about such a thing. Still, it was immensely reassuring.

“Hey Shino…” he forced himself up just slightly, bringing his face close to Shino’s. “Marry me?” he grinned wide.

“I believe we have already established...” Shino began, cool and logical as always, but Naruto cut off the rest of his sentence with a kiss. He could feel the smile his fiance’s lips had curved into.

*

Back in Konoha, seemingly nothing had changed. The civilian population could barely grasp that there had been a war going on in some foreign country – to them it was too difficult to believe. But that was okay, Naruto thought, because every sacrifice made to protect their innocent lives had been worth it in the end.

With peace on the horizon for the foreseeable future, he didn’t really know what to do with himself… so he trained, went on missions and spent time with Shino, like before.

They got married in spring, to the surprise of many who hadn’t known about their relationship. It wasn’t because they were celebrating winning against Akatsuki or because they were trying to prove something to Shino’s dad – it was because they loved each other and it was time to settle down together, at last.

It was quiet, when they exchanged their wovs – there were few invited to witness it, which was just fine. He received a pair of his own “Aburame glasses” later, as he called them – and to his great surprise, he could see _just fine_ in them. Everyone seemed to have neglected to tell him he’d be getting a pair specially made to shield his eyes from the ouside – but not obscure his vision from the inside, like the darkened glass in the windows of shops sometimes had. He felt a bit cheated about that, but accepted them with a smile from Mizuho-nee-san, who hugged him so tightly he thought he was trapped in the Chibaku Tensei again. Even Shino’s dad seemed to be in a good mood, or as much as an Aburame of his status would let himself show it – and he blessed their marriage.

Mina had come from Oto for the occasion and she was, unashamedly, crying the whole time, right next to Tenten, who had brought Temari along from Sand for the first time since the War and had a small child in her arms, looking both worn out by caring for the toddler and happier than ever. Naruto grinned at them, before he wrapped his hand around Shino’s and they left, finally able to enjoy each other’s presence alone.

They moved into the Aburame compound soon after the wedding, at Mizuho’s insistence – Naruto rather liked his apartment, but living with his new family… was rather nice. The Aburame welcomed him warmly, already having known him for years, even if he hadn’t known them in return. There were many new names and faces to learn – all equally impassive and emotionless, but to him it didn’t really matter, because he knew that deep down, they cared.

In a few years time… he would go on to make the Uzumaki famous as the Rokudaime Hokage, a warrior who had skill in water transformation transcending even that of the Nidaime, a master of Fuuinjutsu and a shinobi able to control the Kyuubi’s power at will, using it to protect their village. He would have his face, with the dark goggles and the fox-like whiskers, carved into the stone overlooking their village with pride, next to his Aunt Tsunade. Together with Shino, he would watch Sakura and Sasuke get married in a few years time, visit Hinata and Shikamaru who already had a second child who could outsmart them all without even trying. They would take on their own genin teams… Later yet, together with Shino he would adopt a small child, a girl with beatufiul dark hair and a cute little smile that they both adored, who would one day become the next leader of the Aburame clan. They would live their lives to the fullest.

But for now… they were simply happy to be together.

**The End.**


End file.
